If I Were Me
by Xinthos
Summary: There are far-reaching consequences for everyone when Ino doesn't befriend Sakura as a child, not the least of which occurs when Sakura's two personalities disassociate from each other completely. With one convinced she's worthless and the other determined to prove otherwise, they'll have to find a way to live and fight together, if they want to survive. [Eventual InoSaku].
1. Prologue

**A/N** : It's been a while... For anyone that might have read "Angels and Office Workers," I plan to finish it, but a black cat crossed my path, you see...

 **Rating** : M for language, violence, and sexual themes.

 **Genre** : Primarily action/adventure, with some smatterings of romance that will become heavier as the story progresses. It's going to take time, though, so if you're here to get a quick fix, you'll be waiting a while.

 **Pairing** : InoSaku.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own _Naruto_.

This story starts at the Academy and will end before the Shippuden era, following the timeline closely and including most major events. A lot will change, but that's my warning to you that this is very, very long. ...So, we'd better get started!

* * *

Prologue

" _Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom._ " - Marcel Proust

...

They say a pebble can ripple the surface of still water and cause a tsunami on the other side of the world. They're wrong, of course, because that's physically impossible. Tsunamis are created by geographical disturbances like earthquakes or landslides, not by somebody kicking gravel into a pond, but Ino isn't thinking about that, and neither is Kakashi.

Rather, Kakashi is deciding whether to take the long or the short way to the memorial stone. It's a difference of five minutes, and the glow of the sunset's golden rays diffusing through the leaves of the ancient oaks and elms rooted in Konoha's fertile soil are a sight to behold. Then again, the short way is shorter. Kakashi slows his walk. He's approaching the road diverging between the wide dirt path that will lead him to the outskirts of the village, the small shrines dotting the bordering land, and the memorial stone – or the stone pathway that cuts through the park.

He picks the short way, then abruptly changes his mind. Why not? It's a nice day…

He pivots on his heel and passes underneath the ivy laden wooden arch marking the entrance of the park. Less than a quarter of a mile in, he hears someone sobbing loudly and promptly regrets his decision. This must be why not, he thinks. In front of him, a small child crouches in the center of the path, her clothes dirtied and half of her face bruised. To his left he feels the weak presence of another youngster.

Six-year-old Ino stands behind the tangled branches of a large fern and, like Kakashi, waffles between two seemingly benign decisions.

On the one-hand, she had nearly committed herself to helping her poor classmate crying inconsolably in the road because, really, it's the right thing to do and she knows it. On the other hand, Ino is a creature of pragmatism, and although helping her classmate might boost her own self-image as a benevolent and empathetic human, and might similarly increase her classmate's pitiable self-esteem, there is the issue of whether or not the social ladder is greased and, if so, how sturdy her grip is. Either she hauls her classmate up, or her classmate hauls her down. Ino isn't sure which will happen.

Now, however, that there's someone older present, someone in the prestigious position of jounin, Ino is relieved to pass that duty on to someone else. Surely this adult will help the poor girl, as any responsible adult would offer comfort to such a distraught young person so obviously in need of guidance and one of those long lectures about the Will of Fire!

(For the sake of simplicity and to assuage her guilty conscience, Ino purposely does not think about the fact that none of her sensei at the Academy have stepped up to do so yet, even though they had infinitely more opportunities than this stranger.)

Reassured, Ino quietly slips away, leaving this wise and considerate adult to handle the situation.

And she's partially right. Kakashi is an adult, at least by shinobi standards, but by that conceptualization he's been one since he was seven-years-old. This addled child now blinking tearfully up at him has him questioning all that, though.

"Ah…" Kakashi rubs the back of his neck and tries to smile widely enough that she might be able to tell through his mask. He crouches down – you're supposed to do that with kids, right? – and offers her a hand up. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nods once. Her fingers tremble in his hand and his smile fades. She's obviously terrified and too shy to talk about it.

"You seem awfully upset," he presses, awkwardly standing to his full height. The difference in size is dramatic and she shrinks into herself, her shoulders hunched and her eyes flitting from his nose to the path behind him as if in search of escape.

She whispers something in a quivering voice that he doesn't catch.

"What was that?" He asks, leaning down with his ear cupped and feeling foolish for it.

"Kids at school," she mumbles. Every muscle in her tiny legs is cramped with fear. "Picking on me," she finishes quietly.

Kakashi sighs discreetly behind his mask. What does one do in this situation, he wonders. He has few ties to the Academy and isn't sure if it's his place to get involved – or if he even wants to. Most of the other teachers would probably argue that it's all part of the process, anyway, that bullying toughens children and weeds out the ones unsuited for shinobi life. Kakashi doesn't know if that's true, having been rather untouchable in his youth, but he remembers Obito and concedes that in some cases, constant criticisms and obstacles do teach people how to believe in themselves when there's no one else to rely on. Or maybe that's just hard-headedness…?

Either way, it'd worked for Obito, and by comparison, Kakashi as a prodigal child was an asshole at his own admission, so perhaps he'd best leave this little girl to figure it out on her own.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he says softly, putting a hand on her head in a comforting gesture. The physical expression sends a palpable wave of panic through her small body and Kakashi's frown deepens. In this case, a child like her will likely be better off getting bullied out of the academy than needlessly losing her life when she freezes in battle. "I hope you feel better," he offers half-heartedly before continuing down the path. He doesn't dwell too much on whether he made the right decision or not. If she quits and saves her life, or gains some strength and perseveres, either result would benefit her. Or so he hopes.

#

But Sakura does not quit. She also does not persevere.

Rather, she wavers unsteadily on a third option – surviving. She persists because her parents and her sensei insist that her fears and her kowtowing are futile cowardice.

"You're crying from a few bullies?" They admonish her when they find her hiding, bruised and scratched and red-eyed from fright and agony. "That's nothing, Sakura!"

They must be right, she thinks. These are adults that have faced battle, that have come nose-to-nose with death and survived, and she, meanwhile, is launched into pits of fear and the gaping maws of depression from something that, according to them, means nothing.

She's scared of nothing.

The girls pulling her hair and punching her supposedly gigantic forehead are nothing. Getting tripped down the stairs on her way to present her _Bunshin no Jutsu_ is nothing. The notes slipped into her desk that she unfolds with trembling fingers, the ones that tell her to die, that she's going to die, that she _should_ die, are nothing.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

What right does Sakura have to complain about nothing?

 _(But it_ hurts!) Something in her mind whines loudly.

She has no right and no reason to push back against something that means nothing – not the bullying, not the constant fear, not the aching void of loneliness swelling and bruising her heart in some empty cavity in her chest, and not failure, either. If her pain means nothing, then she has no reason to fail as a result of it, so at the very least, Sakura works hard. What would the adults say, after all, if her assignments were insufficient because the physical torment and the emotional distress that rampage her fragile mind make her head hurt, and her hands shake when they form seals, and her thoughts scatter like sand in the wind – they would say, "You're failing because of _that_? That's nothing!"

So Sakura studies and trains because it's her responsibility to do so, when there is nothing stopping her.

 _(I'll show them!_ ) The voice shouts.

Mostly, she reads books. No one takes an interest in her, and even if they did, she could not collect herself enough to speak to them, so Sakura learns from the musty texts tucked into the shelves of the library. She tries to apply that knowledge alone on the training grounds when she knows they will be empty, when everyone else is having dinner with their friends and family or still asleep before the sun has risen. She doesn't succeed in most things without instructive aid. The taijutu isn't so difficult, but she can't tell how good she is without an opponent to practice against. Her clones prove ineffective for real sparring when they disappear after the first punch. She makes the most of the situation by learning to dodge instead. Her clones poof into smoke at the slightest impact, but Sakura will not, so she focuses on trying not to get struck.

Sakura arms the images with kunai and bounds between the trees at training ground 4, dodging punches and kicks and blades. She gets okay at it, after a while.

( _Okay? Did you see that backflip? We kick ass!_ )

We?

Sakura does not question it. She avidly, fervently, constantly wishes she could be someone else, someone better, and she's often imagining what someone like that would be like in real life. They'd be assertive, for sure, and confident, but skilled enough to back up that confidence. They would be fierce and steady and brimming with conviction.

If Sakura could be like that – there's no limit to what she would do! The fantasies are vivid. She'd jump into class and put down all the threats and cruelties of her classmates, show them one by one what she was worth and that there's nothing they can do to frighten her. She'd punch with the force of a truck, she'd cast jutsu at the flick of her finger, and she'd stand up for herself without hesitation. Sakura often imagines it on her way to class, and while training, and lying in bed at night, and every time in between – what would she do, if she were that person? What would she say?

She thinks of it so often that she can easily conjure the person and her words, the ideal Sakura, in her mind. The personality is so lifelike, in fact, that she can sometimes hear her voice.

The ninjutsu training is harder. She learns from one of her borrowed scrolls that shinobi have elemental affinities that can be tested for by the use of special paper, but she's far too subdued to request such a thing from her parents. They would ask her what it's for, and she wouldn't know how to respond.

The genjutsu, though, is Sakura's favorite. There is one in particular she learns with the utmost of ease, and it suits her.

In the brightest of sunlight, in the most open of spaces, in the most crowded of schoolyards, Sakura makes herself disappear to the eyes of others.

It's a lovely trick. It keeps her safe and hidden from her classmates – not even her teachers seem to notice when she vanishes, although that may be because they don't notice when she's present, either. Sometimes the bullies will walk right by her, especially when she figures out the simple task of climbing walls and branches by channeling chakra to her feet, just as the book taught her, which is a skill that gives her infinitely more hiding places. Each time they pass by just under her nose, Sakura breathes a sigh of relief and –

( _You could take 'em out by surprise! Teach them a lesson, why don't you!_ )

It wouldn't be that hard, Sakura concedes. She uses the jutsu as constantly as her chakra reserves will let her, and she's fairly certain that if she chose to do so, she could in fact ghost between those bullies in a flurry of punches and bruising kicks without breaking the illusion. It helps that her classmates don't seem to have grasped the basic concepts of chakra control yet – not that Sakura is special in that way, she reminds herself. She just has a lot more free time to work on it than they do.

But she doesn't want to ruin a good thing by incurring their wrath, so she doesn't, even though she _could_ –

( _Do it! Come on, they deserve if after what they put us through! Just let_ me _at 'em, I'll give 'em the one-two, the three and the four!_ )

Sakura stifles a giggle at that, earning her some odd looks in the middle of Iruka-sensei's lecture, but it's hard not to laugh at the voice in her head. Sometimes she wishes she could be that person, whoever it is, residing in the recesses of her mind and gliding easily along on the coattails of Sakura's more corporeal form.

The Sakura in her head is brave, and smart, and confident, and she could kick some serious ass! – but Sakura is not that girl.

( _You are_ ,) the voice whispers consolingly. ( _Or, at least,_ we _are.)_

Sakura clings to that comfort, a desperately needed lifeline in a sea of lonely nothingness. She clutches it so stubbornly in her fist that she refuses to ask herself what it is, exactly, that she's holding.


	2. The 'I' in Teamwork

**A/N** : First of all, thanks to everyone who's been reading! Particularly to the sweet soul theconstence who reviewed. /tear. You are awesome. For anyone else out there who wants to throw me a bone, it would be much appreciated! Reviews do help the words come out of my brain sometimes :)

I should probably mention, I've aged the characters a bit to allow for certain events later in the story. They're about fourteen/fifteen at this point. Also, I likely won't be updating everyday, but since the prologue was short, I figured I'd throw this chapter up here too. :)

Lastly, Ino won't be reappearing for a while, but don't worry - she'll be a major player in the story soon.

* * *

Chapter 1

"The 'I' in Teamwork"

...

"He's late!" Naruto whines and points out the obvious.

Naruto does that a lot, Sakura finds.

She watches him argue with Sasuke about the probability of their jounin sensei falling for Naruto's simple practical joke and ruefully ponders the wisdom of the powers that be. Who the heck decided to put the three of them on a team? On the one hand, it makes sense. Naruto was the worst student at the academy – how he graduated is a mystery to her – and Sasuke is the best in terms of practical application, and Sakura is the best in terms of theoretical application, according to her exam scores.

( _Damn right we are!_ )

But, that being said, their personalities hardly make for anything cohesive.

Sasuke, for one, is less of a brick wall than a steel door fastened to the steel wall of a steel building. He's impossible to read and completely closed off to everyone around him, a quality that, while mysteriously attractive to every girl in their graduating class (Sakura had been pelted by innumerable spitballs at the announcement of her being on his team), does not bode well for teamwork. At least he would be reliable in battle, though, which is more than could be said for Naruto.

He, for his part, is the complete antithesis. Loud, brash, unthinking and impulsive – Naruto is a bit of an enigma for Sakura, perhaps even more so than Sasuke. At least with Sasuke, he's cold and consistent in that unabashed coldness, but Naruto is at once terribly lonely and painfully outgoing. It's a combination that she doesn't understand and that has coalesced to form a personality that Sakura can only describe as "loud."

( _I think you mean "idiotic_.")

Then, of course, there's her, who hasn't spoken a word to anyone but her parents and her sensei at the academy, when they deign to call on her for the right answers, since her second year of school. At least it's somehow comforting that her teammates know as little about her as she does about them. But then again, there isn't much to know about her, and she suspects that's not the case the other way around. Sakura would characterize herself more through states of being rather than actual characteristics:

Perpetually anxious, scared, lonely…

( _Awesome! Smart! Ambitious!_ )

…socially crippled, inept, shy…

( _Too good for those bitches at school, if you ask me!_ )

…crazy, maybe.

Sasuke and Naruto, though – they've clearly got more going on in the personality department than she does.

As for their sensei…

Sakura recognizes him vaguely. She's met him before, she recalls, but can't quite place where or when or why, and she chalks it up to having perhaps passed him in town at one point or another. In any case, the chalkboard eraser Naruto rigged to the door lands in his hair with a slight puff of dust, and she can only assume he let it happen. His aloof demeanor likely masks something far more skilled and dangerous than he's letting on – after all, he's a jounin, and jounin must know a lot about a lot of things if they can so easily discern what is _something_ and what is _nothing_.

The sun shines blindingly bright on the roof as they all take their seats, awkwardly side-by-side and waiting for their sensei's instructions. He leans against the railing in no obvious hurry. His one visible eye droops, his shoulders slumping so dramatically that the posture seems to negate the prestige of his jounin vest. He's clearly bored, Sakura thinks, wondering if perhaps it's her fault – should she have said something already? Were they supposed to have introduced themselves?

As if on cue, he says, "Why don't we start with you introducing yourselves?"

None of them answer. Sakura glances sideways at Sasuke, who is sitting with his fingers laced and his mind clearly somewhere else, and Naruto, who is grinning dumbly at nothing. Should she say something? What is it she's supposed to say?

Naruto looks at her and Sasuke and shrugs. "What do we say?" He asks, and Sakura is glad to have him to break the tense silence that seemed to be closing in around her. She feverishly wishes she could use her genjutsu to dissipate into her surroundings and disappear, but she doesn't because that would be rude.

"How about your likes," he deadpans. "Your dislikes, your future dreams, hobbies. Things like that." He lists them off as if he's not even remotely interested in hearing the answers, let alone giving his own, but at Naruto's urging, he concedes at least this much, "My name is Hatake Kakashi."

Every other answer he gives is ambiguous and vague enough to mean absolutely nothing, and just as an awkward silence once again threatens to settle between them, Naruto volunteers himself, thankfully. Sakura is beginning to appreciate the same qualities in him she'd been criticizing only ten minutes earlier. At least with him around, she won't have to speak as often.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto!" He announces brightly, as if he's about tell them all they'd just won the lottery. "I like cup ramen, but what I like even more is the ramen from Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei treats me to! What I dislike is the three minutes you have to wait after pouring hot water into instant ramen, and my hobby is eating and comparing different kinds of ramen! Oh, and my future dream is to surpass the hokage so I can get the entire village to acknowledge my existence!"

Sakura does not react to this bafflingly simple-minded rambling, but only because reacting will draw attention to her, and she'd rather go last rather than next.

But really. What?

( _Did I say idiot already? I did? Let me say it again: idiot._ )

Sakura carefully schools her face into its typical expression, somewhere between apprehensive and shy, to squash the amused smile threatening to emerge. It's true, though – Naruto, while thankfully talkative in lieu of either her or Sasuke wanting to speak, clearly uses words with a quantity over quality type of logic. If logic applies at all.

Kakashi, however, seems to have found something interesting in his speech judging from the nearly imperceptible widening of his eye. If she hadn't spent so long observing people from her position placed invisibly amongst them, and because there isn't much to do _but_ watch people when you're incapable of interacting with them for fear of being reprimanded, she might not have noticed. But it was certainly there.

"Alright then," Kakashi smooths over Naruto's enthusiastic declarations. The boy deflates marginally at his sensei's lack of approval, but not enough to diminish that dopey grin on his face. "Next?"

He looks at her. Sakura freezes at the scrutiny. She shakes her head, her short hair whipping around her face, and Kakashi sighs.

"Alright then. How about you?"

She breathes a sigh of relief as Kakashi and Naruto both turn to Sasuke expectantly. He responds without the slightest movement or hint of interest, staying motionless in his pensive posture. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have lots of dislikes, but no likes in particular." With his phantasmal complexion and his hands over his mouth like that, if he hadn't been blinking, Sakura could have mistaken him for a corpse. She finds him unsettling and wonders again why the girls in her class all harbor such affection for him. "…Oh, and, I don't like summing up my ambition as just a dream, but I do have an ambition. The ambition to restore my clan, and without fail…"

Here he pauses dramatically – does he know that pauses in the middle of a sentence are dramatic? Sakura has to wonder. It seems at odds with his stoic personality that he would intentionally create an aura of suspense for an audience, but here he is, just trailing off at random intervals, letting the wind whip through his hair ominously…

"…to kill a certain man!"

Ah, well. Sakura supposes if there ever was a declaration that deserved a dramatic pause, that would be it.

( _…This guy's bonkers._ )

Whatever damage control Naruto's boisterous personality had done for their clearly unbalanced team dynamic promptly disintegrates with Sasuke's statement. A long, strained silence passes. Kakashi looks unimpressed. Naruto shuffles nervously.

"…Okay," Kakashi shrugs. "Next?"

Sasuke "hmphs" quietly, and amidst her surge of panic at suddenly having their undivided attention, Sakura realizes that he really must have some sort of ego complex to be so annoyed at their lack of response. Maybe she'd jumped the gun earlier when she'd decided Naruto and Sasuke were opposites. More like two peas on the opposite side of the same pod.

"Um… I'm… Haruno Sakura… I…" Her words trail off, disappearing into the breeze.

Kakashi eyes her and inwardly questions this team's assignment just as Sakura had done not long beforehand. Putting Naruto and Sasuke on the same team made sense in many respects – the two are clearly alike and different in poignant ways that might make their teamwork align, if he can manipulate it just so – but this one… He remembers her at the park, years ago, and wonders how she got this far. As if she hadn't endured enough of a hard time already, placing her on a team with a boy who contains a demon fox and the surviving prodigy of an extinct clan is downright cruel, he thinks. She's already not a noteworthy person, and between these two, she'll undoubtedly become even more invisible.

"Speak up, Sakura."

She startles, jolting into a rigid, upright posture, her teeth grit firmly together and obviously unable to speak. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Naruto lean close to her – way too close, really, so that his nose is only two inches from her cheek.

( _This guy's seriously pushing it! You should give him a good punch to teach him to respect personal space –_ )

"Hey," Naruto says suspiciously. He's so close she can smell the ramen on his breath. "I don't remember seeing you around before. Were you really in our class?"

( _Only for the past nine years, you idiot!_ )

Sakura nods.

"Really?! Huh," he scratches his chin. "That's weird. Why don't I remember you then?"

( _Because you're an unobservant –_ )

"Because she's not worth remembering, idiot," Sasuke sneers, which is a feat, really, that someone can sneer without using their mouth. His lips remain hidden behind his hands. But he does it.

( _What?! This arrogant bastard has no idea who he's messing with! We could kick his ass!_ )

To her horror, Sakura's fingers twitch against the rough concrete, loosening her grip on the edge of the stair and curling her hand into a fist. No one else seems to notice, but Kakashi glances briefly at the motion, cataloguing it along with whatever other information he'd gleaned from his team's unapologetically strange responses.

Naruto slaps his forehead. "Oh! Wait a second, I do remember you! Cuz you have pink hair," he laughs, unperturbed by Sasuke's insult.

Kakashi looks at her as if expecting her to speak again, but she stares back helplessly, and at last, he mercifully moves the conversation forwards. "Well, the three of you certainly are… distinctive."

( _He thinks we're an idiot_ ), the voice sighs drearily, and Sakura bites her tongue in shame.

"We have a mission tomorrow," Kakashi continues on through Naruto's frequent interruptions. "A survival exercise."

He explains the details of the mission, that only nine graduates will truly attain the rank of genin while the rest are sent back to the academy, but Sakura's attention is focused on his wording.

 _Survival exercise_.

He couldn't really mean life-or-death, could he? No – that wouldn't make any sense. No jounin in his right mind would cart off newly graduated academy students into a real battle. What he's talking about must be figurative, a "survival" to genin rank as opposed to failure and being sent back to the academy, and if that's the case…

( _We got this in the bag!_ )

If that's the case, maybe Sakura will be fine. She's survived thus far without any help at all, and even if she doesn't like her teammates, surely whatever exercise their sensei has planned will be made easier with their help, although…

Sakura does not miss Naruto's grimace and Sasuke's trembling hands.

Some part of her, a large part, is sadistically delighted by that.

They're scared of nothing and they don't even know it.

#

At her sensei's recommendation, Sakura skips breakfast and arrives at the training ground at 4:58 in the morning. In her efforts to avoid other people, she often wakes at this time to train, so the pre-dawn hour affects her very little. After half-an-hour she wishes she could wander away to complete her usual morning routine. She doesn't for fear of being caught in the middle of it – she can already imagine what Sasuke would say, how inefficient her taijutsu is, how little ninjutsu she knows. And he'd be right. Sakura's proficiency in taijutsu relates almost entirely to dodging. Her ninjutsu extends only to the basics in the academy and what she'd managed to teach herself – nothing special at all except the fundamentals of chakra control.

( _That's more than he can do!_ )

Wouldn't that be nice, Sakura laughs inwardly, but to admit as much would be fooling herself. She's seen Sasuke in action and is well aware that his skill far surpasses hers in offensive techniques, even if he hasn't mastered the subtleties of control yet.

No, Sakura is good for nothing at all, except not getting hit and not being seen, which comprise only half of the available, useful skills for a ninja on a mission. She also knows very well that missing that vital other half is enough to get her killed.

( _I could do it!_ ) The voice insists.

Two hours later, Kakashi finally arrives.

Naruto is livid and Sasuke's anger rises like a cloud of poorly repressed miasma around him.

"You're late!" Naruto loudly points out the obvious, as usual.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, you see…" Kakashi offers the excuse in a placating tone that does not mollify Naruto or Sasuke in the slightest. Sakura is still too unsure of the situation to be angered by it. Is this part of the test too? "…Anyway, I'm setting an alarm for noon. You have until then complete your mission – which will be," he continues, cutting off Naruto before he can ask, "to take these from me."

Kakashi holds up two small silver bells for their examination before tying them to the belt loop of his pants. "Those that can't do it will be strapped to that wooden post over there and will go without lunch."

Ah, that explains his order to skip breakfast.

( _That lying bastard!_ )

Sakura put her foot down at that, the corner of her mouth dipping in disapproval.

 _That's my sensei. Lying to me was part of the challenge, and I failed it._

( _But how the hell could we have predicted this?_ )

It's a good point that Sakura does not acknowledge.

"Wait a minute," Naruto squints at the bells as if they might multiply under the intensity of his stare. "There are only two! Does that mean one of us _has_ to skip lunch?"

Kakashi's eye narrows in a facsimile of a friendly smile. "Correct. That same person will also fail the mission and be disqualified."

"Disqualified?" Sasuke repeats suspiciously.

"Yes. That person will be sent back to the academy."

The three of them look at each other wearily.

Camaraderie?

What camaraderie?

Although Naruto looks more confused than determined, but perhaps that's just his resting face.

Kakashi snaps them out of the tense pseudo-standoff, oblivious or uncaring about the effects of his potentially life-altering words. "You can use your shurikan and all your jutsu – you'll have to," he glides over the apprehension on his students' faces. "You won't be able to take the bells unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

Sakura chews her tongue nervously. Intent to kill is one of the many, many things that she's not yet developed –

( _Says you!_ )

\- and she internally quails at the impending failure of this task. There's no way she'll be able to take a bell from their jounin sensei, not without any true offensive skills. The best she can do is hit a target with a kunai, and although Kakashi had been struck in the head earlier with a chalkboard eraser as a result of Naruto's simplistic stunt, there's no way he would've survived and become a jounin if he were truly so unobservant.

This is going to be impossible.

Sakura will almost certainly be sent back to the academy with Naruto, and perhaps Sasuke, and she'll be forced to endure that torment again until next year because she can't quit, not when nothing is standing her way, just like she can't not try even though she knows she's going to fail, and even though she really, really wants to give up right now.

 _This is going to suck._

( _Maybe for him!_ )

"Are we ready –"

Kakashi does not get to finish the question before Naruto charges at him, kunai in hand. Apparently the guy had been working himself into an emotional frenzy at the thought of failing, and the pressure warped into a sense of potent urgency. Sakura watches Kakashi move, or rather, disappear, and reappear behind Naruto. He'd crossed the distance in less time than it took to blink, his movements completely obscured by his speed, and now he's somehow pushing Naruto's own kunai into the back of his neck.

This is hopeless, Sakura decides right there and then. She should give up and go home and try again next year, if only she didn't hear the voices of all the adults and the bullies and the students reminding her, "You're quitting from fear? That's nothing!"

It's easy to say, she thinks disdainfully, but there is no glory for her in failing with supposed dignity. Whether she gives up or gets disqualified of her own accord, reprimands and torment are sure to follow, and all she can do is prepare herself for the inevitable results of this test.

"I didn't even say start yet," Kakashi chides amicably, releasing Naruto from the hold. The three of them back away from their clearly dangerous sensei. "I think I'm going to like you guys," he says cheerily, and then, "Begin!"

Kakashi watches his three students jump into cover, relieved by their quick action. Of the three of them, Sasuke will likely give him the greatest challenge, though not anything truly formidable. Naruto will probably charge him outright in a moment or two, judging by his unruly behavior and lack of ability to be anything but outrageously conspicuous, and Sakura… He frowns. She's the curve ball. He really has no idea what she's capable of, but if her demeanor is anything of a hint – and as it's all he has to go by, he has to believe that it is – then he can count her out already. It's incredibly unlikely that she'll even have the guts to approach him, let alone to exert enough effort and skill to actually steal a bell.

Taking a quick survey of the area, he senses Sasuke in a nearby tree, mostly obscured by the cover of thick green foliage. On the other side of him, he catches a flash of pink in the bushes. Sakura is hidden there, then, and retreating further into the forest. He sighs at that confirmation of his previous suspicions. She's not even going to try. Hell, he chuckles, she's not even going to stay and watch Naruto make an ass of himself – which he's already in the process of doing.

"Alright!" Naruto announces from four feet in front of him, a distance Kakashi could cross in an instant and kill him just as fast, if he so chose. "Let's face off, fair and square!"

From his cover in the tree, Sasuke is surely face palming.

"Are you sure this is the best way to go about this?" Kakashi asks disinterestedly, hoping that Naruto will be able to see through his aloofness and find the warning hidden in his words.

He doesn't, of course. "Of course I'm sure! It's _my_ way!"

Naruto then proceeds to rush him, not even drawing a weapon beforehand, and Kakashi reaches for the book in his side pouch.

"Alright then, Naruto. I'll teach you the first shinobi technique, taijutsu…"

#

Fifty yards into the forest, Sakura stops walking. She can hear the sounds of a skirmish from where she'd come and figures now is as good a time as any to cast her genjutsu. Hopefully she's far enough away, and Kakashi is distracted enough, that he won't sense the subtle fluctuation of chakra from this distance.

She weaves the genjutsu around herself with her body as the point of perceptual interference.

Normally, a genjutsu is cast on a target through intent and the particular formulation of the jutsu. According to the texts she'd researched, the caster's chakra controls the victim's chakra in the central nervous system, manipulating his or her mind into configuring both images and sensations – and that, Sakura found, had been overly complicated for her purposes. She wanted a generalized illusion, not one that relies on specific images or which can only be used to target one person at a time.

The other style of genjutsu, the one that she learned, uses a physical object as a point of sensory interference. Like a trigger. When viewed, it subtly manipulates the viewer's chakra in much the same way certain ocular jutsus work, like meeting the eyes of a sharingan user. Or so she's read.

In particular, she designed her genjutsu to distort the victim's visual perception upon looking at the point of disruption – namely, her body – and erase her from their field of vision. In much the same way the human brain will filter out unnecessary information, like background conversations at a party, or the trees surrounding a target in favor of the target, Sakura's body simply becomes an unnoticeable piece of the background to the point of being imperceptible.

It suits her.

Invisible to any onlookers now – or so she hopes, since Kakashi's skill level might exceed the quality of her jutsu – she's instantly more relieved, although not completely relaxed. She's practiced this technique for nearly six years, using it for at first an hour, then several hours a day as she worked up to it by building her chakra reserves. Thus far, no one has seen through the illusion. Not even the chunin teachers passing by less than a foot away. Admittedly, that may in large part be due to the fact that no one ever looks for her, but she has no reason to think that advantage won't be the same here. Kakashi has probably written her off already, understandably so, and perhaps it'll work in her favor. If she decides to try and take the bells at all, that is.

( _Of course we should try! You don't want to go back to the academy, do you?!_ )

 _No, of course not…_

But there isn't much she can do about it. Sakura has no skills that might allow her to subdue Kakashi and take one of the bells, and she doubts he has any weaknesses obvious enough for her to exploit.

Sakura circles around the edges of the forest, lightening her footsteps to the point of silence and sidestepping twigs and dead leaves. She's spent so much time in the thick coverage of trees that make Konoha distinct from other lands that avoiding the natural traps of the forest are second nature to her. It's an easy task to stay within range of the ensuing battle and keep hidden, and she watches in utter bewilderment as Kakashi shoves his fingers into Naruto's butt, sending him sprawling into the gentle current of the river a few yards away.

( _What. The hell._ )

Considering what she's just seen, when she squints at the book in her sensei's hand, she's unsurprised to find the title as inappropriate as his actions.

The skirmish is fast-paced and one-sided and frequently interrupted by Naruto's obnoxious declarations. Surprisingly, however, he does manage to pull off a Shadow Clone Jutsu that Sakura has never seen in action before, only to get fooled by a substitution jutsu that Kakashi performs with such dexterity and speed that it makes her head spin. When Naruto gets caught in an obvious trap, Sasuke darts further into the forest to avoid being the next victim.

Sakura watches him whizz right by her without so much as a glance in her direction.

( _Told you! He's all bark and no bite!_ )

 _They didn't teach us how to dispel genjutsu in the academy, so it makes sense…_

( _So? Even if he knew how to dispel it, he would have to notice it first!_ )

Another good point, Sakura admits, but she'll hardly give herself the credit for it. Genjutsu is about the only thing she can do, and just because she can do it well doesn't make up for her lack of skills in all other areas.

 _Hopeless_ , Sakura thinks again, perching herself upside down on a tree branch.

The wood quivers at a sudden weight atop it. She covers her mouth to keep from gasping in surprise. Sasuke had doubled back a bit, probably to keep an eye on Kakashi, and wound up coming to rest exactly atop the branch she's crouching upside down on.

 _Should I say something?_

( _Why? So he can criticize you some more? Psh._ )

Fair enough. She peeks over the edge of the branch, catching sight of Sasuke's pensive face as he considers his options. She notices that his nails are bitten short and that his lips are chapped and singed, oddly enough, but that is all she has time to notice before his eyes widen in surprise and she turns her head to find Kakashi standing a mere ten yards from her, his eye cast apathetically at Sasuke's hiding place. Again, Sakura stifles her gasp.

"Trees only make good cover if you can learn to suppress your chakra signature," Kakashi says blandly.

Sasuke jumps from the tree and lands directly below her. If she stood from her upside down position, the tops of their heads would touch. Sasuke shoves his hands in his pockets nonchalantly, but his shoulders are too tense to hide his frustration. "This challenge is a joke," he scoffs. "How are genin expected to compete with someone like you?"

Kakashi's eye narrows. "In this world, those that aren't skilled enough tend to complain more."

Understandably, Sasuke takes offense to this.

He launches himself forward with noteworthy speed, sending a kick at Kakashi's face fast enough that he has to put aside his novel. Their taijutsu is clearly unbalanced in skill, however, and Sasuke steps back, forming well-practiced seals.

Sakura blinks in surprise at the rush of flame from his lips, her mouth slightly agape. Fire jutsu? She vaguely remembers that the Uchiha clan had specialized in it, along with the vast powers of the sharingan that she couldn't completely wrap her head around, but the fact that Sasuke can perform elemental techniques as a recently graduated academy student is impressive. Most of her classmates hadn't even bothered discovering their elemental affinity yet, let alone learned to use it.

Kakashi disappears from the blast radius, reappearing behind Sasuke to reverse their positions – and, more pressingly, put himself directly under Sakura's hiding spot.

The bells are in reach.

The air around her suddenly seems thick as mud. Her throat closes in the force of her anxiety. This couldn't be real, could it? She'd just watched Kakashi fool Naruto at least three times and move so quickly her eyes couldn't follow – there's no way he would just be standing below her, oblivious to her presence, right?

( _Who cares? Take the bell!_ )

Sakura grits her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut. The thought of taking that risk, of exposing her presence and making herself vulnerable to the backlash of her teacher, is overwhelmingly terrifying. If she messes up in the minutest of ways, or accidentally flares her chakra even fractionally, Kakashi will come for her – and she'll be powerless to fight him. He'd crush her in an instant.

"That's an impressive technique, Sasuke," Kakashi drawls.

Could he really not sense her? Sakura's heart constricts in her chest.

( _Sakura! Take the damn bell!_ )

There's no way, right?

( _Do it now!_ )

Slowly, through the course of her sensei and Sasuke's witty banter, Sakura stands, pushing her body at an angle to avoid bumping her head against Kakashi's. At her full height, she's less than an arm's length from the bell tied to his waist. Her hand hovers uncertainly before it, her heart thrumming a rhythmic terror, her blood frigid in her veins at the thought of what might happen – what if he notices? What if she's not fast enough? What if this is a trap?

( _Sakura! Now!_ )

 _I can't!_

Her fingers are an inch from the bells. It's only through her familiarity with fear and her practice at having to hide from predatory pursuers that she's able to stifle her breathing through the sheer, near hysterical trepidation paralyzing her in place.

( _You have to do it now!_ )

 _I can't!_ Sakura repeats, and the voice screams at her, ( _Now! Before it's too late!_ )

Glancing up briefly, she sees Sasuke's muscles tense. If he moves, Kakashi moves, and her opportunity will be lost.

( _Sakura!_ )

Sakura shakes her head minutely, crying out in equal desperation, _I can't!_

( _Fine!_ ) The voice snaps. ( _Then_ I _will!_ )

 _What_?

What does that mean? Her eyes widen as her hand moves of its own accord, wrapping around the nearest ball and yanking, and then the world is spinning, spinning, falling, full of pain as she's yanked from the branch and pressed between a hard body and the harder, rougher bark of the tree.

This time she cannot stifle the gasp of surprise or the whimper of pain. She opens her eyes – when had she shut them? – to see Sasuke's stunned face, his mouth agape and his eyes wide, a face so full of emotion that it feels disturbingly out of character for someone so determined to be unimpressed by the world, and then she sees Kakashi's eye equally as wide in astonishment and a mere inch from her own. Their noses are practically touching.

Then her heart sinks. His eye – there is no other way to gauge his expression – narrows hostilely, and the hold against her collarbone increases.

 _It was a mistake! I told you! I told you!_

( _We got the bell, didn't we?!_ )

 _He's going to kill me!_

Sakura cannot repress the terrified whine, as embarrassing as it is, clawing its way out of her mouth.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Kakashi asks flatly, his voice hard and serious.

She tries to reply, but the words get caught and shredded in the whirlwind of fear whipping the air in her mind like a furious maelstrom.

"Sakura."

"I – I – I taught myself – a book – learned it and I – I wanted to hide – people being mean so I – I'm sorry," she finishes lamely, her voice pitching upwards as if it's a question.

Wordlessly, Kakashi lifts a closed fist up like the joint of his elbow is spring-loaded, knocking back Sasuke in his attempt to get the remaining bell while he was distracted. Kakashi loosens his grip and backs off of Sakura, his expression slowly changing into something less aggressive. He stares her down for a moment longer, considering something, and then smiles.

"Genjutsu natured – it's rare, you know. You did well."

( _Ha! Told you! We. Are. AWESOME!_ )

"I – I'm – thank you, sensei," she whispers numbly, still frozen in place. Kakashi nods and turns around to face Sasuke and Naruto, who has apparently managed to cut himself down from where he'd been dangling in a tree, and in the brief moment before Kakashi speaks, she stares down at her hand still fisted tightly around the bell.

 _How did I – we – you do that?_

( _Well, you obviously weren't going to do it_ ), the voice replies in a way that makes Sakura think it must be rolling its eyes. If it has eyes. Could it have eyes? Something like nervousness begins to build in Sakura's gut. ( _So I did it myself._ )

… _I see. Thank you_.

( _You're welcome! I told you we kick ass!_ )

For the first time, Sakura questions the "we."

#

For all of her internal gloating, Sakura is vastly displeased to be the one that gets to eat lunch. She's starving, sure enough, but Sasuke's venomous glares and Naruto's whining don't exactly create a comfortable environment in which to have a meal. She can tell that Sasuke is particularly displeased. He clearly wants to ask her how she did what she did, much to the satisfaction of the voice in her head, but his pride keeps him from actually voicing the thought aloud. Naruto has no such inhibitions.

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! That was super cool!"

"You weren't even there to see it, idiot," Sasuke responds coolly.

"I saw the last part!" Naruto corrects him. "And it was awesome! Maybe you can teach me to do that too, huh, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura blushes warmly at both his praise and the nickname. He might be the first person in her life, barring her parents, to ever speak to her with such overt affection or regard.

 _Maybe he's not so bad_.

( _At least he can appreciate a good thing when he sees one. Unlike Sasuke._ )

Sakura chances another look at Sasuke's now carefully neutral expression, but for all his self-control, his hands are fisted tightly against the ropes tying him to the log.

"I – I could try, Naruto… If you want," she adds hastily. "But, um, I learned through reading, so I'm not sure –"

"You must read a lot, Sakura-chan! You're like a super nerd! In a good way, I mean!"

Sakura blushes again. It intensifies at the growling of his stomach.

"So hungry," he groans, and although Sasuke does not verbally agree, his gut is a voice of its own. "Hey, you wouldn't want to share some of your lunch, would you?" Naruto asks quietly – for Naruto, anyway – his eyes wide and pleading.

Sakura clears her throat. It feels strange to say so many words at a single time. "Kakashi-sensei said…" she trails off, hoping she won't have to finish, but Naruto quite noticeably can't piece the rest of her statement together. "He said that only one of us got to eat lunch, so…"

But as soon as the words are out of her mouth, a thought follows unbidden, _he said that only one of us got to eat lunch. He didn't say which one…_

( _Because the rules are implicit! Only we get to eat lunch because only we got the bell._ )

 _Yeah, but…_ Sakura looks between Naruto's pleading face and her partially eaten bento.

( _Ah, hell with it. Just give him a bite or two._ )

 _But we already ate part of lunch, so one of us has already eaten. If we give Naruto a bite, then we're breaking the rules –_

( _We only ate part of it! Surely that doesn't count_.)

 _But…_

How can a boy look so much like a puppy? Nervously, Sakura glances around at the empty field. Their sensei had gone off to go get his own lunch, or so he'd said, but he could easily be masking his presence, hiding somewhere close by, and…

…And Naruto looks so damn pitiful there.

( _It'll be fine! Just a bite or two_.)

 _Ah… Just a bite…_

Anxiously, Sakura looks around again. Kakashi is no where to be seen, and as discreetly as possible, she picks up a small piece of onigiri and plunges it into Naruto's eager mouth.

"So good," he sighs around the bite, his subsequent grin asking for another, which she obliges, since there doesn't seem to be any present danger in doing so.

 _I guess he really did go get lunch._

( _I told you it'd be fine! You really should listen to me more, you know_.)

 _Maybe you're right_.

"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto half-whispers again. "I know Sasuke is too much of a stubborn bastard to ask, but I can hear his stomach from a mile away. Maybe you could give him a bite, too?"

"I don't need your charity," Sasuke growls, and then so does his stomach, and Sakura blushes more at the hostile words of her inner voice than at the noise. But, really, despite the complaints of the voice in her head, Sasuke is her teammate too, and she's already breaking the rules anyway…

Shyly, she lifts her chopsticks to his lips.

"I told you," he snaps. "I don't need your charity."

She flinches at the tone of his voice but doesn't withdraw her hand, mostly because his fierce anger stills her into immobility. His eyes are cold and his gaze harsh, and really, he scares Sakura as much as he infuriates her inner personality, but after a prolonged silence and some verbal berating from Naruto, at last, Sasuke leans forward and accepts the food. It's so unlike him that the sky seems to crack open in response.

…No, wait, the sky did crack open.

Sakura barely manages not to scream. She drops the chopsticks and instinctively activates her genjutsu to disappear from sight. Launching herself out of harm's way, she looks back only to come face to face with Kakashi. His fingers are pushed together in the tiger seal and pressed against her shoulder, throwing her chakra for a loop and dispelling the genjutsu.

"You broke the rules," he says gently, whatever theatrical display he'd been crafting mercifully vanished at her obvious horror. He'd been planning on making a show of it, just for his own amusement, but it's apparent that she has no constitution for such things.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispers, tears gathering in her eyes, but he merely places a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, Sakura. Those that break the rules may be considered scum in the shinobi world, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum. You did the right thing."

Eyes damp with unshed tears, Sakura meets his one eye and finds it, surprisingly, full of approval. "I did?" She can't help but ask, still in disbelief.

"Yes, you did," he affirms, and then turning to Naruto and Sasuke, his voice picks up a jovial quality. "Congratulations, you three. You pass."

* * *

#

Feedback? Reviews make my day!


	3. Sense, Sensibility, and Singularities

**A/N** **:** Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favorites! They are much appreciated and simply make my day. You might notice some small changes in the sequence of events in this chapter, but note they are intentional.

 **EDIT:** After some thought, I decided to change the title. It's been bothering me since I posted it. Just a heads-up.

Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 2

"Sense, Sensibility, and Other Singularities"

...

The mission to Wave was a total, utter disaster.

Sakura had been completely useless. It didn't come as a surprise to her. Although Kakashi at least _said_ he'd been impressed by her mastery over basic chakra control and her self-manufactured genjutsu, those were still her only talents. When hell broke loose in the form of Zabuza and Haku, the best she'd been able to do was cast her illusion on both herself and Tazuna, hiding them from Zabuza's terrifying killing intent. But that was it.

Sakura can't make shadow clones. She can't breathe fire. She can't vault shadow shurikan or break the jutsu of a kekkai genkai by sheer willpower.

She hadn't helped at all, and in her inaction, Sasuke almost died, and Naruto survived to win his battle only by some miracle of nature.

And yet, somehow, Kakashi thought it appropriate to sign them up for the chunin exams.

Sakura cannot unravel his mysterious logic. Why on earth would he put the three of them, with her incompetency, and Naruto's reliance on dumb luck, and Sasuke's overinflated confidence, through this hellish trial? To make the already terrifying task even scarier, they're being pitted against genin who have leagues more experience than they do, many of whom can break genjutsu. If an enemy pinpointed her location and got a hand on her, she'd be finished. If they disrupted their own chakra, her illusion might re-trigger from another glance at her body, but that second of visibility could easily cost her life. Kakashi's reassurances that her genjutsu is above genin level thanks to its constant usage, while somewhat comforting, did not come close to fully abating her fears.

At least the first few tests had been easy. Sakura quickly recognized the amateurish illusion of the exam room numbers, and passing the written portion had been simple, though useless. Now, however, to be thrown into this God forsaken forest by themselves with her teammates' bickering all the while is surely going to be the death of her. Sasuke is adept at many things, but he can't carry the three of them on his own, and Naruto couldn't hide himself if someone buried him forty feet underground. All Sakura can think as they traverse the gigantic ancient trees of the Forest of Death, each root big enough for a small platoon to stand on, is that it must be named the Forest of Death for a reason. And that reason is that they're going to die here.

This is the thought that bounces around her head as they leap from branch to humongous branch, as they stop to rest so Naruto can run off and pee in the bushes, as he returns and uncharacteristically recites their password, and as the person impersonating him reveals herself to be decidedly not Naruto.

Oh, yeah, they're going to die here for _sure._

"Who are you?" Sasuke asks rigidly, his hand braced around a kunai and ready to strike. The forest air is nearly viscous with humidity, and Sakura can feel her shirt clinging to her skin along with the moss of the root, as tall as her, that she's currently hiding behind.

"I'm impressed with how quickly you figured it out," the woman drawls. Sakura notes the grass headband and tries to recall any information she might have stored about grass shinobi, their techniques, specialties, anything. Nothing pertinent arises. This is hopeless, but maybe Sasuke can pull it off…! With his newly functional sharingan, there are probably a host of useful skills he can use in battle now, right?

The grass ninja turns to where Sakura remains cloaked, staring straight through the genjutsu and piercing her mind with a fear she did not realize could exist outside of nightmares. Her reflexes scream a familiar choice that really isn't one: fight or flight.

 _I can't fight!_ She thinks immediately. _I don't know how!_

( _Yes we can! Don't be scared!_ )

Easier said than done. Sakura only half-listens to Sasuke and the grass-nin's banter, concentrating instead on finding Naruto, who still has not made an appearance – _is he okay?_ She worries frantically over his safety, because if he's dead then surely she and Sasuke will be dead soon, too, or at the very least they'll all fail and there will be no one around to call her "Sakura-chan" anymore and then she might be stuck with Sasuke and –

( _Calm down!_ ) Sakura tightens her grip on the kunai she doesn't remember drawing from the pouch at her leg. The tremor in her fingers extends nearly up to her elbow, the muscles quivering half in fear and half in strain. ( _Panicking isn't going to help! Focus!_ )

She takes a deep breath and tries to concentrate. If she can figure out this person's capabilities, both her and Sasuke's chances of survival will improve. This grass shinobi has no distinguishing weapons or marks, however, other than her sallow skin and unhealthy appearance, which might normally mark the battle in their favor if only Sakura could believe that it isn't just another illusion.

Then the grass-nin takes out an Earth scroll and proceeds to do something that sets off every alarm bell in Sakura's head and probably more than that, probably ringing alarm bells all the way to Suna, honestly.

She eats it.

( _Why the hell would anyone take the time to learn a skill like that?!_ )

Sasuke and the woman are still talking, but their voices distort into muted buzzing in her ears, dampened by the dense smog of fear quickly thickening in her brain and scattering her thoughts like diffused light. Despite Sasuke's confident posture and the reassurances of her inner voice, the imminent battle looming just a minute away is rubbing her nerves absolutely raw, and –

"Why don't you come out, girl?"

Every muscle in her body seizes like someone hit the pause button.

Ah, yes, excellent question. Why doesn't Sakura just come out to become an easy target for death?

More pressingly: why is she actually doing it?

( _What are you doing?!_ )

 _I don't know! I'm sorry!_

Sakura's body trembles with anxious fear and she'd like to claim that she is, in fact, coming out into the open because it's convoluting her judgment. But the real reason is worse. As ashamed as she is to admit it, this woman is clearly older than they are – an adult – and adults have always, _always_ been the absolute authority in Sakura's mind. They make the rules. They set the tone. They give the orders. They even decide what is real and what is nothing, and when it comes down to it, she has internalized this thought so thoroughly that she obeys the woman without question.

Even if terror rips at her guts and screams doomsday in her mind, the impending pain means nothing, and she has no right to disobey orders based on nothing, so Sakura hops out on too-stiff legs, landing clumsily at Sasuke's side.

"I see you're only burdened by one incompetent teammate, Sasuke-kun," the woman says. Her voice slides into Sakura's ears, slick as grease and sharp as the blade of her knife. When she sets her eyes on Sakura, Sakura's breath hitches in her throat. "That's an impressive genjutsu. What is your name?"

"Ha – Haruno – Sa – Sa - Sakura," Sakura stutters, averting her eyes to her feet. Sasuke scowls at her and she winces, the embarrassment doubling and folding neatly into the box of her self-loathing.

The woman chuckles. "I see. You and the loud one must balance each other. You'd all be very amusing to watch together, I imagine, if anyone ever gets the chance."

The words are like a paralytic poison. What had Sakura been thinking earlier, about alarm bells? Those must have just been alarms to set off the _real_ alarm bells.

Sasuke tenses beside her. The world darkens and bloodies, and something cold and searing at once grips Sakura like she's a squeeze toy in a man's fist, stealing her breath and instilling her with a potent terror that makes what she'd experienced a moment ago seem minuscule in comparison, or what she felt in the face of Zabuza, or any time in her short life that is surely about to end. This woman's killing intent is like a hand on her throat. Sakura can't even scream.

( _At least you're not the one vomiting._ )

The voice in her head sounds a bit shaken, but it seems that part of her retained some measure of control where Sakura could not. She turns with all the grace of a wooden figurine to find Sasuke retching beside her. When he casts a frenzied glance at her, he looks more scared than she feels – at least compared to the part in her head that's still capable of commentary. That, more than the sane part of her that screams – _run run run forget him you can always get a new teammate and how wise could Kakashi really be –_ grounds her.

But only enough to keep her from wetting herself.

( _Sakura, listen to me. You have to move_.)

Move? Is that really something she can do? Is that something she's ever done? She suddenly can't remember.

 _I…_

( _If you don't move, we are going to die._ )

But what's the point in running, really…?

( _Do you hear me? We're going to **die**!_ ).

Sakura watches in muted horror as the woman draws two kunai from the pouch strapped to her leg. She flings them from her fingers, and Sakura should not have time to think as many thoughts as she does, but she does, and Sasuke is still frozen and trembling beside her –

( _Sakura. Move!_ )

 _Sasuke is going to die I'm going to die we're going to die –_

( _Sakura!_ )

 _Die die die die die die die –_

( _Move!_ )

 _I can't we can't I can't –_

( _NOW!_ )

Sakura does not move, but she does. Her legs straighten, pulling her from the floor where she'd been paralyzed by fear on her knees, and her arms reach out, wrapping around Sasuke's waist. Her knees bend. Her feet kick off the ground with an acute power, something measured and instinctive and fierce in a way that Sakura never has been, and then she's flying.

Fast. Too fast.

The world around her blurs and warps at the forced speed of her jump, and at the last second, somehow back in control of her limbs, Sakura catches herself against the trunk of a tree, hitting the wood with such impact that the backlash sends tremors from her ankles all the way to her skull. She does not have time to ask herself how she did it. Sasuke yanks himself from her arms, trying to regain his sense of physical space.

She whispers, "Are – are you –"

He slaps a hand over her mouth. His eyes are wide and terrified and red with the sharingan. Some part of her is comforted knowing that he's prepared to fight now, at least, but Sasuke's blatant psychological deterioration is rapidly nullifying that reassurance. "We're going to be found here, Sakura. We have to move."

No sooner are the words out of his mouth than he's picking her up, jumping them to a different branch, since the last one is now severed from the trunk with an ear-splitting crack at the hands – or lack thereof – of the biggest snake Sakura has ever seen.

"Get away from me!" Sasuke screams – really, truly screams. His voice is raspy with dehydration and a fear strong enough to match her own, settling in her stomach like a boulder and pinning her feet to the wood as they land. Sasuke haphazardly throws a fistful of shurikan in his panic – a much better reaction than her own immobility, Sakura notes disdainfully – and the snake belly flops onto an adjacent branch.

And then it splits open. A head emerges from the bloodied, ruined flesh, like a maggot wriggling from a corpse. As if it couldn't get any worse.

"You shouldn't let your guard down," the grass ninja advises lightly, freeing herself from the slime of the snake's innards and readying herself for an attack.

She's stopped short by the type of timing and luck that only Naruto has, by a kunai and a brazen announcement. That boy really does survive on miracles, Sakura thinks numbly, still unable to move from her kneeling position. Miracles, and truly, not much else. She watches the events unfold as Sasuke attempts to end the situation by handing over their heaven scroll only to have his plan foiled by Naruto, who promptly steals it back and punches Sasuke in the face, which is absolutely, utterly idiotic.

They don't stand a chance against this woman. That much is abundantly clear. But then, that's Naruto, she supposes – always missing the obvious unless it's coming out of his mouth, always leading with brute force and conviction rather than logic. It even works out sometimes. Who knew you could punch a snake to death? Too bad, though, that's the only pleasant surprise throughout the course of the fight. Who knew that Sasuke would freeze up like this in the face of battle – again? Who knew that skin looked like that as it charred and bubbled and peeled off a person's face?

Sakura's brain is still telling her to move and her feet are refusing despite the loud protests of her inner voice – how can that person, that part of her, throw witty insults at the woman who just burned to death only to _not_? More pressingly, her heart aches from the strained rapidity of its beats in the face of this fear, in her worry for Naruto – what had that woman, no, that _man_ , done to him? To Sasuke?

"Sasuke will come looking for me," the man smiles, and its smug and reptilian, but Sakura is not paying attention to him anymore as he disappears into the trunk of a tree, merging with the wood as if he were sinking through mud.

Sasuke is screaming. The wound he's clutching on his neck, two bite marks from the snake man, are not nearly as ominous as the strange black markings beside them. She wants to keep asking if he's alright, but he slumps forward suddenly, his body limp in unconsciousness.

Sakura looks around at the disarmingly still forest. She stares at Sasuke's slack form, and at Naruto's similarly slumped figure against a lower branch, and she does not bother to fight the terrified tears slipping down her face, now that she's alone.

( _It's going to be okay_ ), the voice says, and Sakura does not believe it.

Naruto and Sasuke are comatose, there are dozens of other genin hunting them, along with that strange man's henchmen, and Sakura is here, by herself, useless, with no offensive skills.

( _We have to hide_ ), the voice says, and it's the closest to an admission of defeat Sakura has ever heard from it.

Their atypical synchronicity does not make her feel any better.

#

Settled into the hollowed trunk of a tree, Sakura does her best to nurse her wounded teammates under the protection of her genjutsu. There isn't much she can do. Helplessly, she changes the cloth on Sasuke's feverish forehead and worries over Naruto's scrapes and bruises, but her lack of supplies and skills limits her from doing anything but bandaging them. Most worrisome of all, the looming arrival of other shinobi presses down on her like the weight of an ocean. Sakura is alone and terrified.

She cannot figure out what that man wanted with Sasuke, or why, or why she and Naruto were left alive when they could have been so easily ground into the dirt like ants underneath the heel of that ninja's superior skill. The questions are hardly relevant, but they keep her mind off the foreboding feeling of certain doom.

The three sound-nin that have circled her hiding place three times come back a fourth. Each pass, Sakura's heart climbs its way into her throat.

"This is ridiculous!" The skinny one barks, gesturing at their surroundings. "We've searched the whole fucking forest at least twice, and we can't find them. Where the hell could they be?"

( _Score!_ )

"Calm down, Zaku. They have to be here somewhere."

"Oh, yeah? Then where are they, Dosu?"

Dosu glares, a surprisingly threatening gesture from someone with only part of his face showing. "I don't know, but it's not like they could've just up and –" He pauses. Sakura's inhalation catches in her lungs like cotton on sandpaper. "Kin?"

The kunoichi beside them nods, a wicked grin on her face. "We should've guessed sooner."

She brings her hands together.

Sakura knows that seal.

( _Shit!_ )

 _Think!_ Sakura urges herself, running through possibilities in her mind. There is absolutely no way she can take on three of them – hell, she couldn't even take on one of them, if she's being realistic about it, but she has to prioritize now.

Her teammates are unconscious. These people are after Sasuke.

Should she hand him over to spare her and Naruto's life? The thought is a terrible one, but in this case, what more can she do? She can't fight – not by herself, especially – but then again, there's no reason for her to believe that Sasuke will be enough. Just because these shinobi's boss left her and Naruto alive doesn't mean that these people will.

On the other hand, she could leave Sasuke and Naruto under her genjutsu and attempt to lure the enemies away. How far could she get though? She might be adept at dodging attacks, but besides that leap of faith she'd taken earlier, Sakura can hardly rely on her speed. There is the real possibility that these shinobi will outrun her in seconds, and she'd also be taking the probable risk of escaping them only to collide straight into another team hunting for the heaven scroll.

Beyond that, she isn't sure how far she can get before the distance will become too great for her genjutsu, leaving Sasuke and Naruto exposed in the relatively poor coverage of the tree trunk. They'd be sitting ducks.

"Kai!"

Sakura squeezes her eyes shut and waits for death, which is really the worst of all the options she'd thought of.

But maybe Naruto isn't the only lucky one.

Kin is facing the wrong direction.

She frowns, running a hand through her hair in irritation. "Not here."

"We'll keep moving, then," Dosu says it calmly in contrast to his clearly aggravated teammates. "We'll rescan every inch of this forest, if we have to."

"That could take a full day," Zaku whines.

( _That would be perfect, thank you very much!_ )

"Would you rather fail and see what Orochimaru would do to us?"

"Good point."

 _Orochimaru? The legendary sannin?! THAT WAS THE MAN IN THE FOREST?!_

Whatever little bit of their situation made sense before, none of it does now. Sakura grits her teeth and only dares to breathe again when the three sound-nin are out of sight.

Kin's mistake has bought her some time, but how long can she hide against someone like that? If Orochimaru comes looking for them himself, they'll be dead before they even see him coming, and even if he doesn't, his lackeys won't give up any time soon. Despite the vastness of the forest, they must've been informed that two of her teammates are injured. The radius they're searching will likely only contain the area within a mile of where her team battled the sannin. It's a lot of ground, but not that much, and she hadn't exactly been able to cover her tracks while hauling two limp bodies down a tree.

( _Let's put our heads together. I'm sure we'll come up with something_.)

At least one of her is confident, Sakura thinks dolefully.

#

Sakura makes a decision that is less of a decision and more of a last, final act of desperation.

She cannot fight, and though she can set basic traps, she rightfully doubts that shinobi sent by Orochimaru would be amateurish enough to fall for them, so Sakura, at the behest of the voice in her mind over the course of four solid hours of convincing, at last agrees to a plan. It's not the smartest plan. To put it bluntly, it's idiotic, but that's the point. The idea relies entirely on everyone else's perception of her as hopelessly stupid, which is the natural conclusion to come to for anyone watching, because who the hell in her right mind would wander around shouting her teammate's names like a lost child?

...Why, Sakura, of course! Although, with her demure personality, it's less of a yelling and more of a loud whisper.

The idea is to use herself as a diversion. A distracting secondary prize. Those sound-nin will circle back for the fifth time very soon, and Sakura is not lucky or dumb enough to rely on dumb luck to save her again, so she's wandering around the radius of the tree in carefully plotted courses so as to make it look random, calling out for Sasuke and Naruto. Part of her hopes that the repetition of their names will wake them, but mostly, she crosses her fingers and wishes fervently that when the sound-nin round the forest to her location again, she can fool them into thinking that she's lost and completely incompetent.

…Like how some animals play dead to avoid getting eaten.

…Because they're too weak to defend themselves.

… _I'm pathetic._

( _You're not pathetic! You're just… not suited for combat…_ )

She has to admire that half of her mind for it's valiant efforts at comfort, but that doesn't detract from the fact that, surely, nobody else in her graduating class would have to resort to such undignified measures to survive.

The only downside to the plan is that her blatant presence leaves her an open target for other shinobi that might happen to wander by. Twice now, she's been uncomfortably patted down in search of a scroll that she doesn't have, but each time, much to her vast relief, the inquiring teams let her off after scoffs of disgust and not-so-silent judgments regarding her inadequacy.

"What kind of sensei do you have," one kunoichi asked her in a fit of repugnance and second-hand embarrassment, "that would send someone as obviously unprepared as you to this exam?"

Sakura hadn't been able to stutter an answer.

The sound of rustling from the bushes alerts her to the presence of more shinobi. She says a quick prayer to whatever deity might be mercifully listening that whoever appears will not be the kind of person to kill her outright just for fun.

 _Who would bother, though, really…_ Sakura sighs forlornly. They'd get more satisfaction from hunting and putting down a squirrel than marking up an easy kill with her.

( _Aw, come on! You survived an encounter with Orochimaru…! That's gotta count for something, right?_ )

Does a deer surviving a run-in with a pack of wolves make it any less cowardly for running? Lucky, maybe, but not brave. Certainly not strong, at least.

The voice in her head sighs.

"HA!" Zaku emerges from the foliage and points a finger at her, a manic grin splitting his face. His team looks considerably more disheveled than the last time they came around. Sakura can only imagine that they're, A.) incredibly frustrated, which does not bode well for her, and B.) have probably run into other shinobi and been forced to fight, thereby increasing that frustration.

Which, again, does not bode well for her.

"We finally found you!" He shouts giddily. Dosu looks relieved but isn't willing to be quite as enthusiastic about it. He steps towards her menacingly, and part of the genius of Sakura's plan is that she doesn't actually have to do any acting. She cowers, huddling back and almost tripping on her own feet, and it's all embarrassingly real.

"Where have you been hiding?" He demands, and before Sakura can attempt to reply, Zaku guffaws loudly.

"Hiding? She was just walking in circles shouting!" He takes long strides towards her, stopping half-a-foot from her and grabbing the collar of her shirt. "Where the hell are your teammates?"

"I – I – I – " Sakura wishes she could call this a very convincing farce, but she's really trying to speak. The words smash into each other, cramming at the space just before her mouth, stuck. "They – I – they –"

Zaku slaps her. Quite lightly, to be honest, like he's trying to wake a fainted teammate. "Where the fuck are they?!"

"I don't know!" Sakura blurts out. She lets the tears gather at the corners of her eyes. "I was – I was – looking for them too…" she whispers.

Her eyes dart between Zaku's face and the forest floor. She wishes she could sink into it like Orochimaru had sunk into that tree.

 _Note to self_ , she thinks, _learn how to do that._

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Dosu deadpans. "That your teammates would abandon you while injured?"

Sakura merely looks at him helplessly, and Kin throws her hands up and shrieks, her frustration boiling over. Sakura winces at the noise.

"Why the hell wouldn't they, Dosu? Did you hear her? She was walking around in circles like a toddler calling out for them – I really doubt she's acting," Kin sneers. "She really is that shitty of a kunoichi."

( _Why don't you come closer and say that to my face, you ugly –_ )

Sakura drowns the voice out and squeezes her eyes shut. The tears slide hotly down her cheeks.

Kin is right, of course. Even if this is a set up.

Zaku throws her to the ground and kicks her in the stomach for good measure. She grunts, gripping her abdomen and wheezing as the air forcibly escapes her lungs.

"Bullshit," Zaku snarls. "They wouldn't have left her. They need her to pass the exam."

"But – I –" Sakura gasps, trying to inflate her lungs back into a functioning state. Zaku kicks her again, and in her disjointed, pain-racked brain, she wonders briefly why the grass under her cheek is normal sized when everything else in this forest is gigantic.

When she opens her eyes, all three of them loom over her. Dosu speaks. "Where are they?"

"I – I – really don't know..." She curls into a ball when Zaku bends his knee for another kick. It doesn't come. Kin puts a hand on his shoulder, and Sakura enjoys a moment of overwhelming relief that perhaps she's not as cruel as her teammates –

"Please," she smirks. "Allow me."

Kin proceeds to dig her foot into Sakura's ribs in a powerful punting motion, hard enough to send her rolling a few feet away, and this time, Sakura does not gasp or wheeze or grunt. Such noises are too dramatic, she thinks. She's undeserving of theatrics, no matter how badly it hurts, and besides, this is a pain she's used to. This is a pain reminiscent of the kind of pains she encountered at the academy, the type she's learned to withstand without complaint for fear of escalating her torture.

This is nothing.

Sakura's fearful, anxious mind quiets. This is nothing, she reminds herself again. There is no need to make a fuss about nothing.

She stays on her side as Kin approaches her again, her eyes and mind and thoughts blank in expectation of suffering. Sakura has lived long in the abyss of nothingness, and so this, she can endure.

Kin lifts her by her hair and slaps her once, twice, the sharp crack of her hand against Sakura's face resounding in the forest. "I hate kunoichi like you," she hisses. "You give us a bad name."

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispers, but her voice does not reflect the emotion. It is as hollow as she feels.

( _Snap out of it!_ )

"Hey, Kin," Dosu calls out. She hears a slight whoomph of air as he takes a seat in the grass. "Just leave her conscious. Zaku is right, her teammates will come looking for her eventually. All we have to do is wait."

"So why do I have to keep her conscious?" Kin snaps. "What difference does it make?"

Dosu chuckles in a way that does not reflect real mirth. It's as heartless as their treatment of the helpless kunoichi in Kin's merciless grasp. "It'll piss Sasuke off more, I think, if she's still awake enough to cry out in pain."

#

Like all bullies, Kin gets tired of torturing Sakura eventually, a process expedited by the victim's unresponsiveness.

Sakura's lack of reaction doesn't mean that she isn't in pain, though.

Everything hurts. It's a struggle to breathe, but Sakura still manages to do so quietly and shallowly, trying not to aggravate the injuries and deep bruises running across her ribs and legs in eggplant purples and jaundiced yellows and sickly, bluish greens. She could not count how many times Kin kicked her, or picked her up and threw her, or smashed her body into the ground. Her left eye is swollen partially shut from repeated punches. One of her molars is missing now. The side of her tongue is ulcerated and shredded from where she'd accidentally bitten it as Kin kneed her in the face. The blood from her mouth, from the lacerations of several senbon dragged across her skin, and from her nose and the raw, dirt-scraped, open-wounds on her knees, is everywhere.

Her hair is a wreck, gone from shoulder-length into a messy, haphazard pile. Sakura can't bring herself to care about that. Kin had gathered it in her fist and sliced through it with a kunai, leaving the short, blood-matted strands sticking up at angles from her skull. The fingerprints she left dotting Sakura's throat like a constellation of miserable black holes are more concerning.

From her position huddled against the house-sized root of a tree where Kin left her incapacitated, Sakura tries to remind herself yet again that this is meaningless. The mantra rings a repetitious chime in her skull, timed with each of her shaky exhalations. But this is not like the times at the academy.

She's never been in more agony or felt more alone in her entire life, and that was a high bar to begin with.

 _It hurts_ , she whimpers in the safety of her mind, desperately seeking comfort. Anything, really, other than the excruciating pain accompanying every second of existence, every labored breath and blink and breeze.

( _It's going to be okay_ ) _,_ the voice whispers back soothingly. ( _You're alive, aren't you?_ )

 _It won't, it hurts, it hurts,_ Sakura thinks back, the reply automatic, infantile and instinctual like the mechanical cries of an injured fawn. _It hurts so much_.

Somehow, through the beating, Sakura managed to keep up the genjutsu. It's been hours since she casted it this morning. Her chakra reserves are nearly depleted, and the three sound ninja resting beside her broken body will surely not take kindly to the fact that she's been lying to them this whole time.

Kin will kill her.

But there's nothing Sakura can do about it.

The saddest thing of all, Sakura thinks weakly, is that it's not much of a life to lose. There's hardly anyone that might care if she disappeared for good. Sasuke tolerates her. Naruto is friendly with her but impatient with her inability to interact easily. She knows no one else her age, and Kakashi apparently doesn't regard her enough to have thought about the likelihood of her survival in this exam. Even her parents might be a little bit relieved at her death. They could have another child then – one that's less of a failure.

The loneliness is crushing. It hurts as much as her body. Maybe more.

( _You have me_ ), the voice reminds her weakly, and Sakura wants to smile both at the attempted reassurance and at the absurdity of it.

Maybe she should just kill herself now and spare her flesh the inevitability of more torture. No one will miss her. She'd be a name on a gravestone somewhere, not even having made it far enough to be put on the hero's stone, and appropriately so. Sakura is nothing, has always been nothing, will always be nothing.

She closes her eyes and waits for death with a morbid sense of peace.

"Zaku, wake up," Dosu whispers. Sakura does not move to check the source of his alarm. "Do you guys feel that?"

Kin shifts and stands – Sakura can tell it's her by the faint tinkle of bells. "There's someone here."

"Someone powerful," Dosu agrees.

Ah, yes, now Sakura can feel it, the pulse of chakra laced with killing intent. It's powerful, it's dark, it's –

Familiar?

Slowly, feeling every pore and seam and stitch of her skin ache with the effort, Sakura turns her head to face the cavern in the trunk of the tree. The sound ninja can't see it beneath her genjutsu, but Sakura watches through eyes nearly swollen shut as Sasuke stands, his chakra seeping from his skin in ominously dark tendrils like a toxic vapor.

 _Sasuke,_ she thinks, and then, _the mark_.

Sakura still does not dispel the jutsu, using the last of her chakra and all of her concentration to shift the point of visual distortion to Sasuke's body, nullifying his presence and blending him into the background. His sharingan allows him to instantly feel the illusion and see through it, and as he exits the tree, still imperceptible to the alerted sound-nin now vigilant on their feet, his eyes land on her battered body, her fingers intertwined and palms pressed together at her chest in the sign of the rat. She cannot identify the emotion on his face at the sight of her. He nods once, slowly, in understanding, and silently approaches the sound-nin still unaware of his presence.

"It's getting closer," Zaku whispers raggedly. He and his teammates stand back to back in a defensive formation. All of them have long forgotten about the idea of genjutsu, and they remain oblivious as Sasuke circles them, his footsteps noiseless against the grass, his eyes bloodied with the sharingan. He's looking for something.

He sees the blood on Kin's knuckles. Without the slightest hint of remorse or hesitation, he kicks her right leg out to the side, his foot colliding with her knee and bending the joint at an unnatural angle. The bone snaps with a dull, wet crack, the ligaments ripping, and she only manages half of an agonized scream before Sasuke's fist collides with her chin and snaps her jaw shut to the detriment of the tip of her tongue. She's unconscious instantly.

"What – what the hell?" Zaku shouts, leaping away from the circle.

The genjutsu breaks and Sasuke stands unapologetically over Kin's body. He turns to Sakura, whose vision blurs and distorts unsteadily in her exhaustion.

"Sakura," he says calmly, and again, there is an emotion in the undercurrent of his voice that Sakura cannot name. "Are they all guilty?"

Sakura stares at him. The question takes a moment to needle through the layers of hurt blanketing her mind. When it does, she tries to respond and is disappointed when her voice comes out as a squelching, wet hiccup.

This time, though, she catches the feelings on his face. Surprise. Sympathy. Fury. Shame?

The chakra Sasuke wields is potent and reminds her vividly of Zabuza, although it clearly carries the tinges of Orochimaru's. He's faster. Stronger. He barrels through the two remaining sound-nin with the grace of a predatory cat and the same compelling deadliness, and for a few short minutes, the forest is filled with screams. Zaku's mangled arms fall limply over his torso, the bones mutilated and broken. One of them pierces through the skin on the back of his wrist. He is still luckier than Dosu though, Sakura thinks. Dosu's body is still burning, and she has the rather macabre thought that he shouldn't have worn so many cloth bandages. They're like kindling.

Perhaps she should be thankful for the mission in Wave now. She'd seen so much blood then, viscera and gore and violence as Zabuza cut through three-dozen men like they were nothing more than blood bags. The smell of death had clung to the air, hematic and reeking, imprinting in her mind forever. Now, this is the second time she's had to watch people bleed and burn before her, and she still finds it nauseating and utterly terrifying, but it's not as bad as the first. And at least this time the source of the destruction is solidly on her side.

Sasuke walks slowly to her and kneels. The strange, inky black markings on his body dissipate, slithering back into the mark on the junction of his neck and shoulder. His face appears carefully blank, but she does not forget the emotions she'd seen rippling his calm façade. "Sakura," he says in a tone that manages to be both neutral and gentle. "Can you stand?"

She makes a noise as close to "no" as she can. Sasuke nods and goes back to the trunk of the tree. He drags Naruto out into the bloodied battleground and nudges him with increasing forcefulness until, finally, he wakes, jumping to his feet.

"Oy! Sasuke! What the hell is –" Naruto's startled wakefulness stops abruptly as he looks around, stilled in the throes of disbelief at the sight before him. His eyes wander first to Kin, then Zaku, then the scorched and nearly unrecognizable form of Dosu, and then finally, Sasuke. The strange chakra he'd been exuding has dissipated for the most part, but Naruto looks at him like he's someone else entirely.

Maybe he is, Sakura thinks.

"What happened?" Naruto mutters, taking a small step away from Sasuke, but Sasuke puts his hand on Naruto's shoulder in a rare gesture of camaraderie.

"I'll explain later. We have to get help for Sakura."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto instantly reverts back to his normal self. "Where is she? Is she okay? Did –"

He stops again when he sees her crumpled form. She tries to open her mouth to help assuage the overwhelming emotional turmoil on his face, but all that comes out is a sodden cough.

Naruto and Sasuke share a meaningful look.

"I'll carry her," Naruto mumbles stiffly. As gently as possible, he leans down and shifts her onto his back, but when it becomes apparent that she cannot summon the strength to wrap her arms around his neck, he picks her up bridal style instead. He tries to smile. "It'll be okay, Sakura-chan. We're going to get you help."

Sakura wants to believe him. Truly, she does, but she looks around at the limp and mutilated bodies on the ground, at her own maimed figure; she feels the crushing loneliness, and the resentment, and the pain sinking her mind into the deepest, blackest pits of despair, and wholeheartedly disagrees.

Where were they? She wants to ask as she watches Sasuke pull the earth scroll from Zaku's bag. It's easy for them to say something like that when they weren't here, alone, defenseless and useless and having to care for two incapacitated teammates. They didn't have to suffer through the merciless torment and the pulverizing, inescapable knowledge of their own inadequacies.

No. No matter what pains these two have suffered, they have always had their skills, or at the very least, their stubborn convictions and ambitions to lean on. Sakura has nothing.

( _But we -_ )

 _No!_ Sakura shuts the voice up instantly. There is no "we." The person in her head could not possibly be herself – that voice is one built on confidence and inner strength and self-assuredness, qualities that Sakura has never had, will never have, because she is _hopeless, hopeless, hopeless_ –

Something in her mind crumbles at the complete and emphatic recognition of that fact. She is by herself in her personal failures, in her destitute existence, in the void of this acute despair so unlike the type that sometimes shadows her teammates.

Sakura is completely, utterly alone, and now she knows it. She feels the coldness of it settling into her bones and heart and her very soul.

 _There is no "we." You're you_ , Sakura thinks sadly. _And I'm just… me._

* * *

#

Feedback? :)


	4. Duck, Duck, Goose?

**A/N** **:** Minor changes to the preliminaries have been made, as you may notice, and are intentional. After all, now that Dosu/Kin/Zaku are unable to fight, the match-ups would be slightly different.

Thanks to everyone for reviews, follows and favorites! For anyone else wondering about Sakura's genjutsu, it does work sort of like Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, as Nikki1212 mentioned, though it's less of, "I'm magically disappearing," and more of, "I'm manipulating your brain into disregarding my presence so I appear to blend into the background." …But for simplicity's sake – yes! Magic! :)

To the guest reviewer concerned about Sakura's rather bad fortune, think of it this way: if pathological dissociative personality disorders developed from minor traumas, we'd probably all have one. Not that I'm not guilty of meshing the skimpy real life data with Naruto lore, but that's fiction for you, haha. I understand your concerns, but if you choose to continue reading, keep in mind we're hardly a tenth of the way through the story. :)

…So, now that I've dropped Sakura's very fragile humanity from a thirty story building and ground it into the dirt, lets observe what's left, shall we?!

Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 3

"Duck, Duck… Goose?"

…

There is no time for real medical attention. Team 7 reaches the tower without interference, likely due to the malicious killing intent leeching from Sasuke like a smoke from a fire, but opening the scrolls only reveals Iruka-sensei and the uneasy – and unhelpful – look he gives her bruised and battered body. Between speeches about ninja-hood, he does his best to perform some makeshift first aid and promises that none of her injuries are life threatening. Still, she does not miss the way his eyes linger on her, over the fingerprints on her neck, or his clenched fists.

He leaves mumbling something about Kakashi.

Sakura has to agree that her sensei made a rather shortsighted decision that obviously had more to do with Sasuke and Naruto than her, but really, what right does Iruka have to be concerned for her now when he never had been before? To make matters even more outrageous, she now has to stand here on unsteady feet, her numerous injuries aching like someone wrapped her in barbed wire and _squeezed_ , while the Hokage gifts them with a long lecture about how the chunin exams are really a poorly disguised bid for mercenary contracts and unabashed gloating on an international level.

( _He makes it sound military strength is equivalent to comparing penis size._ )

 _I'm… not sure you're far off, apparently…_

There are so many holes in this logic that Sakura doesn't even know where to start.

Yes, sure, let's send the children to their deaths so we can see which nation is stronger! There's absolutely nothing morally questionable about that, and surely there could be no more accurate or humane system that any one of Konoha's several geniuses could concoct…!

Sakura does not have the energy to be livid, though the anger does slither in her gut somewhere far out of reach.

No one but Kabuto, the man they'd run into before the first exam, raises their hand when Hayate asks if anyone will forfeit the preliminaries. Sakura wants to – she wants to fiercely. Every part of her body aches in a way that's impossible to ignore, but she can hear the refrain, so familiar now, so infuriatingly hopeless, "You'd quit over that? You think _that's_ bad? That's nothing!"

She hadn't been the one cursed by Orochimaru, after all, or overcome by whatever strange sealing technique he'd used on Naruto, even though she'd taken more of a beating than either of them…

Sakura keeps her arms glued to her sides, her fingers curled into fists, and her teeth around her tongue. She stubbornly refuses to admit her pain. Even if she won't forfeit, however, she's still in no condition to fight – hell, she's never been in a condition to fight, if she's honest with herself – but to quit would be to give in to nothing, for the sake of nothing. No matter how badly she hurts, or how much her heart aches for lack of anyone's notice or attention, Sakura is a well-trained dog, beaten into submission by the negligence of her teachers and the malice of her peers.

She stands at the railings with her teammates and Kakashi and watches the fights progress. She does not look Kakashi in the eye. He will see the bitterness there, and the emptiness, and she will have to explain that she is hurting over nothing because of him. She has no desire to do that, but as she watches Yoroi get crushed in a vice of sand, the fear does not feel like nothing. His death does not look like nothing to her.

"What would you have done," Sakura wants to ask him, "If I'd been the one pitted against that monster?"

But she already knows. He would have told her to fight. Naruto and Sasuke would have told her to fight. They would have thrown her into that match for the sake of their idealized visions of bravery and determination, and she would have died, and Kakashi would have blamed that weakness on her even then.

That's all there would have been to it.

Hayate calls her name and Sakura wants to laugh at the irony of it all, but she cannot remember what humor feels like at this moment. She won't have to face a bloodthirsty creature. Instead, she faces her own monster.

Yamanaka Ino.

"Good luck, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pats her on the back gently. His tone is bubbly as always but tinged by something else, something like worry. Even Sasuke appears apprehensive. She still does not look at Kakashi.

She descends the stairs from the balcony and squares off against this girl, the star kunoichi of their graduating class. Ino is everything that Sakura is not: confident, strong-willed, capable and hardheaded and loved. She'd never gone out of her way to make Sakura miserable like most other people in their class, but Ino had been the undisputed queen of them, looked up to and admired like a celebrity at least by many of the other girls. So, it had always been in her power, if she'd so chosen, to save Sakura from that undeserved punishment with merely a word or two.

But she hadn't. Yamanaka Ino left her to the wolves without so much as a second glance.

( _She's just like the rest of them! Maybe worse! Kick her ass!_ )

Wouldn't that be nice, Sakura thinks wryly. It would be like a movie. The unpopular underdog getting revenge against the queen bee, the girl that Sakura had watched jealously when she'd been little, the one that stood idly by as her friends tormented and bullied their helpless victim. The one who had done nothing. _Nothing_. _Nothing for nothing for nothing for nothing –_

Sakura recognizes suddenly, a little startled by the ferocity of it, the rage in her chest.

She should not be here. ( _You deserve to be here!_ ) She should have been sent back to the academy, by all rights. ( _You're the only one that got the bell though!_ ) And she should have never been nominated for this exam. ( _You're still standing, aren't you?_ )

No matter what the voice in her head says, Sakura is not ready, and hadn't been ready, for any of this. Nobody has ever been there to teach her what "ready" even is, and now here stands the person she has to fight, someone who might have been able to do something about Sakura's helpless position before she'd been couched in the recesses of others' attention so permanently, and the person who had chosen not to.

 _That's not fair though, is it?_

( _If your dog went rabid on a small child and you didn't pull it away, whose fault is it, really?_ )

 _But she was a kid, too…_

( _So were you. So were they._ )

Sakura does not know what to do with this bubble of escalating fury, but she can't subdue it, either. The more she thinks about Ino, and Kakashi, and her sensei at the academy, the angrier she becomes.

Why hadn't anyone done anything? Where had they all been? Like Naruto and Sasuke in the forest, when it comes down to it, Sakura has always been forgotten at the most crucial of moments. She was never important enough. Her pain was never bad enough. Her problems were never big enough.

The rage is hot and overwhelming, and Sakura, for all her suffering, has never felt anything like it.

She doesn't deserve to feel such anger over such miniscule problems, though, does she? The negligence of everyone around her proved that, didn't it? If she really mattered, if she were really that hurt, they would've noticed, but they didn't because she wasn't, and how could these two thought processes coexist? How can she feel too worthless to accept concern and simultaneously demand it?

But it takes no more than a second's thought for Sakura to understand. The anger is not her own.

 _What are you doing?_

( _Teaching you what you're worth! This isn't your fault!_ )

 _Stop it,_ Sakura replies, trying to douse both the rage and the panic that's becoming increasingly apparent as she stands across from Ino on the concrete, arguing with the person in her mind and understanding, quite suddenly, that she can't control it.

Something has changed. Something important. She can't name it, but it's there, kicking at her from the inside.

( _Stop fighting me and fight them instead_ _! Fuck her, fuck Kakashi, fuck Iruka for deciding to help you when it's finally convenient to him!_ )

 _They're doing their best –_

( _Like hell they are! Look at yourself!_ ) Sakura's eyes flit down to her bloodied clothes and the bruises covering every square inch of her body. She winces. ( _Nobody taught you how to survive, nobody helped you, nobody bothered to prepare you for this life-or-death situation – people like that, people who abuse their power like that, they deserve to be hurt, Sakura. She deserves to die._ )

For a second, Sakura stops breathing. _What?_

( _It's true,_ ) the voice says with fierce conviction. She's sure of herself. Sakura is not. What does that mean, then, for her opponent?

Ino regards her coolly, oblivious to the conversation about the state of her beating heart. Her face appears stoic but there is something apparent in her expressive blue eyes, something that Sakura could have spotted a mile away.

"Good luck," Ino says, and Sakura looks at her, and looks, and looks, and feels, and then she says,

"I hate you."

The carefully composed demeanor promptly vanishes. Ino's face contorts, her mouth turning down into a grimace, and the pity in her eyes changes into something for the briefest of seconds – guilt – before she once again schools her expression. Sakura, meanwhile, slaps a hand over her mouth.

Why had she said that? She hadn't meant to say it! She almost apologizes for the words when Hayate coughs raggedly, "Go," and then they are leaping apart, only not really. Sakura leaps away. Ino follows her.

( _Kick her ass!_ )

 _I can't!_ Sakura thinks back, and distracted by her own internal feuding, she catches a punch to her already bruised face. The sensation of knuckles pushing into damaged flesh is excruciating, but it's probably not as bad as the back-handed blow she delivers to Ino's sternum as a counter. It's strong enough to send the sleight girl flying until her back collides with the concrete three yards away.

"Woah! Sakura-chan! How did you do that?" Naruto cheers from the balcony railing. "That was awesome!"

Sakura stares at her hand, perplexed, and then at Ino. Ino's still recovering from the force of the punch. Her head is clearly reeling, and blood mats her long hair where her skull connected with the concrete. Neither of them had expected that, apparently. Ino would have never gotten so close if she'd known her opponent could punch her farther than most civilians could jump.

( _Now! Get her now!_ ) The voice shouts in Sakura's head, and then before she knows what she's doing, she's pulling a kunai from the pouch strapped to her thigh and charging with her hand raised, her eyes blank with fear, watching as the point of the kunai angles straight for the soft flesh at the base of Ino's neck. The jugular. Ino snaps back to awareness at the last second, but too late. She has just enough time to realize what's happening and twists her body to avoid the fatal wound, all the while wearing this look on her face of horror and resignation and – like Sasuke, Sakura thinks. Shame?

 _No no no no no –_

"No!"

Sakura yanks her body back. The kunai angles wide and clings uselessly against the concrete an inch from Ino's head.

( _She's earned this punishment, Sakura! Just do it!_ )

 _No! I won't!_

"Oy!" Shikamaru calls from the railing. His knuckles are white around the metal bar, his face contorted with worry. "Ino, move!"

Snapping out of her stupor, Ino drops into a crouch and rolls out of range, standing on shaky legs a few yards away and watching Sakura wearily.

"I – I – I'm sorry," Sakura lifts her hands as if in surrender, "I didn't mean to do that! I just – _ah_ –"

Her hand twitches for her weapons again. She slides shurikan on each finger and then aims to fling them. Anticipating the attack, Ino jumps out of the trajectory –

Only, Sakura doesn't throw them. She's gripping her right arm with her left hand, her face red with strain.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing?!" Naruto shouts obliviously. "Go get her!"

( _Yeah! Listen to the guy! You think she doesn't deserve it?_ )

 _Of course not! At least, not – not this!_

( _Do you think she ever had as much concern for you, Sakura? Come on! Don't be an idiot!_ )

 _No! No no no no –_

"No no no no –" Sakura covers her mouth, unsure when she'd begun to speak aloud, and what the hell is happening to her – "What the hell is happening to me?"

 _Stop that!_ "Stop that!"

She's shouting aloud. One hand presses over her mouth in an attempt to muffle her voice while the other convulses strangely at her side as if jolted with electricity. Her feet struggle to move, and she strains against it until her knees bend inward and touch like she has to pee. As if this couldn't get any more embarrassing.

Ino has, by now, backed very far away. She eyes Sakura like she's totally lost her mind, which may not be far off base, and looking at the confused faces of the spectators on the balcony, she guesses they've more or less come to the same conclusion.

( _Just fucking do it already! The sooner you do this, the sooner it ends!_ )

 _I don't want to kill her!_

"I don't want to kill her," Sakura's mouth moves against her will, forming the words and ejecting them to the listening ears of two-dozen people, much to her chagrin. She finally bites down on her thumb to muffle the rest of her thoughts and keep them contained where they belong – in her head.

For this one, though, it's too late. Ino noticeably stiffens, her eyes wide, and Shikamaru calls down to her again.

"Ino!"

"I got it!" She snaps irritably. "You're not my mother, Shikamaru. Or yours, for that matter," she mumbles. Her hands form a seal that Sakura has only seen before because Ino offered to demonstrate the technique for a presentation in their fourth year.

Mind transfer.

Not good. Not good at all.

That is a very bad idea. Sakura tries to move her body, but now that she wants to, her feet are rooted firmly to the floor.

"No! Wait!" She shouts, trying desperately to run out of the line of fire, but the muscles in her legs are locked as if in rigor mortis, and it's too late.

Ino's body slumps.

Sakura's goes rigid.

There is a very odd sensation of ripping, and tearing, and shifting, something fluidic exiting and entering. It's tremulous and loud and leaves no room to focus on anything else, like flexing your whole body and listening to the blood rush in your head. All of Sakura's senses are momentarily stripped. It's abstract to the point of surpassing verbal description, like the unnamable sensation of being watched, and a sort of dreamlike quality overtakes her. It's followed by an emptiness marked by absolute silence, a quiet so complete that it hurts her ears from the inside out, and then something else entirely. Something foreign.

Sakura straightens.

So does Ino.

They stare at each other for a long, tense moment.

"Ino?" Shikamaru calls uncertainly, but he's looking at Sakura.

"Um, I – no, not, um…" she trails off, unsure of how to put her words into a sentence that makes any sense – could there be words to explain a feeling like this? – and then he slouches, confused, and turns to Ino. She gives him a smug, confident look that is a familiar expression of hers and would have been completely commonplace, if she'd been the one doing it.

"Guess again!" 'Ino' calls out triumphantly, and then she moves on to more important matters. "Man, this body is _weird_ ," she snickers, grabbing her – Ino's? – breasts curiously. Sakura winces.

"Ah, she, um, she doesn't like that."

"So? Since when are we concerned with what _she_ thinks?"

The crowd of spectators watches this exchange, their eyes going back and forth between the two girls almost uniformly. The confusion is palpable and the quiet elongated. Shikamaru at last leans over the railing, uncharacteristically assertive in his worry. "Hey! Which one of you is Ino?" But of course, neither responds, and hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer, he tries again. "Which one of you is Sakura?"

The two girls look at each other.

"I am," they both reply instantly.

"Ne, Shikamaru…" Chouji says, frowning. "So if that's Sakura in Sakura's body, and Sakura in Ino's body… then where's Ino?"

Sakura – the one with the pink hair – clears her throat gently. "She's... she's in here," she explains, tapping her skull.

Shikamaru and Chouji share a brief, worried glance that is quickly interrupted. Perhaps a bit predictably, it's Naruto that winds up shouting over any reply, impervious to the strangeness of the situation and focused only on the pressing matter of the match. The top half of his body bends completely over the railing in his enthusiasm.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! If that's you in Ino's body, you should just make her give up!"

"Yeah!" 'Ino' gives him a thumbs-up. "I like the way you think, Naruto, but first – hey, Sakura, what should we do?"

"What… what do you mean?"

'Ino' rolls her eyes and jabs a finger into her own chest. "We can't just let her get off that easy! Not after what she did to us! Say," she grins wickedly, rubbing her hands together like a cartoon villain, "what do you say we strip her first and then –"

"No!" Sakura immediately flushes from head to toe at the thought. "Absolutely not. Just say you forfeit!"

'Ino' frowns, apparently disappointed with this answer. "And why," she says slowly, reaching into her weapons pouch, "would I do that?"

"Because then we'd win…" Sakura points out meekly.

'Ino' twirls a kunai on her finger. She paces the floor, back and forth with painful slowness, deliberating. The noisy peanut gallery has quieted down. The silence covers them like a led blanket, settling over them with enough weight to even keep Naruto's mouth clamped shut. Nobody knows who is who, or what is what, and besides Naruto, nobody is therefore willing to make the call. Hayate's body is tensed to end the match. In the absence of other noise, 'Ino's' voice rings clear as a bell and leaves no room for argument when she finally speaks. "Nah. I say we kill her."

"Hey!" Shikamaru snaps from the railing. "Don't be an idiot! This isn't necessary!"

Kakashi likewise steps forward, pinning Sakura with a hard stare. "Sakura, that's enough, you don't –"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, you asshole," 'Ino' snaps at him. His eye widens and she can see through the thin cloth of his mask that his mouth has dropped open.

"Why should I show any regard for this girl's life? Or yours, for that matter?" She jabs the kunai in Kakashi's direction. "None of you have ever given a damn about Sakura's, and you're the one that threw us into this stupid exam without even considering whether or not Sakura would survive it! You were just thinking about Sasuke and Naruto – you don't give a rat's ass about us, or you would've prepared us! How many other people in that forest do you think only know one jutsu outside of what's taught in the academy, huh?"

'Ino' looks around at the remaining contestants, well aware of the answer, but she does Kakashi the favor of pointing it out anyway.

"None! Because if they were that unskilled they wouldn't have been nominated. And this bitch," she taps Ino's forehead with the handle of the kunai, "never showed an ounce of consideration for me, either. She stood on the sidelines and watched Sakura get our ass kicked and didn't lift a finger to help, so why the hell should I –"

"Because she's sorry," Sakura interrupts quietly. 'Ino' stops mid-rant, her mouth still hanging open, and she shuts it abruptly and turns to – well, herself.

"Are you serious?" 'Ino' deadpans.

"She says she's sorry. I can feel it – her guilt is real."

'Ino' narrows her eyes suspiciously and crosses her arms over her chest. Sorry is too little too late. Besides, she hardly believes it. "Tell you what. How about we switch back, and then she can prove it."

Sakura hesitates, "But what if we lose?"

"We're not going to lose," 'Ino' rolls her eyes. "Not since you're going to let me take the reins, anyway."

Sakura isn't about to argue with herself any more than she already has, and in all honesty, winning the match has become a far second to ending this situation any which way possible. The press of unremitting attention from everyone around her is nauseating.

There is that odd, liquid shifting again, almost like falling asleep, and Sakura's head bows for a moment before she rights herself. Her posture noticeably changes as Ino takes control of the body and lifts her hands in a familiar seal, sending her consciousness back into her own form as Sakura rejoins with… Sakura.

 _Was it really a good idea to switch back? I mean, we could have won…_

 _(Don't worry_ ), the voice replies. ( _I got this._ )

… _If you say so._

When they've righted themselves, Ino is infinitely glad to be back in her own body and to have avoided death – twice today, and at the hands of someone like _Sakura_ , no less... No, wait. Ino winces at the condescending thought. It was uncalled for. Obviously she, and everyone else, had underestimated her to some extent.

"I'm sorry," she breaks the silent standoff. "You're right. I watched you get hurt and I didn't do anything to stop it, and I should have, okay? You didn't deserve that, and I feel terrible about it."

Another lull ensues. It seems as if the apology might be getting through to her, and they can finally get back to the match and hopefully move on with their lives, but then Sakura grins at her. Not amicably, but ferociously.

"Good," is her cheerful reply. "I hope you feel bad for the rest of your life."

"I – what?" Ino's brow furrows and she takes a step forward, clearly aggravated by the response. "I'm trying to apologize here, and –"

"So what? Do you know how much pain someone has to be in before they literally break into pieces?"

"And what do you expect me to do about that now? There's nothing I can say except I'm sorry –"

"Yeah?" Sakura's tone is challenging. She puts one foot forward and raises a fist aggressively. "Well, it's not good enough!"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"How about you get on your knees and kiss my feet?!"

Ino's jaw drops. "Absolutely not!" She shouts, utterly indignant.

Sakura is already taking her shoe off though. "Too bad!"

"Are you out of your damn mind?! That's disgusting!"

"Would you rather kiss my ass instead?"

"What?!" Ino shrieks, outraged. "Don't be sick!"

The two of them have been hostilely closing the distance between each other, the death match momentarily forgotten in the clashing of their stubborn personalities, though the argument is tipped slightly. Ino is furious, but Sakura's savage, taunting smile doesn't fade.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot that you're saving your chastity for _Sasuke-kun_!" Sakura speaks the name in a gratingly high pitch, a false imitation of the enthusiastic repetitions of his name that had been uttered frequently by the girls in their graduating class. Ino goes rigid. Her face reddens straight past the pink shade of Sakura's hair and right to the deep burgundy of red wine. Her tone is livid.

"Listen, if you're just going to embarrass me, then why the hell should I –"

"Ha! I don't have to try and embarrass you! You're enough of an embarrassment on your own – I nearly won this match with one punch!"

"You know what?" Ino snaps. She takes another step forward. "It makes sense that you can house two personalities – that must be what your gigantic forehead is for!"

Sakura takes a step toward her as well, closing the last of the distance so they're toe-to-toe. "I'd rather have a big forehead than a flat ass, you pig!"

"How can you call me a pig and tell me my ass is flat at the same time?!"

Sakura jabs a finger at Ino's chest. "Have you ever seen a pig with butt cheeks? Me neither!"

"My ass is not flat!"

"I'll give you that – it's so flat it doesn't even count as an ass!"

"I do so have an ass!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"And how the hell would I do that?"

"Let me squeeze it!"

"I – what?!" Ino reels back, her eyes going between Sakura's rather exuberant expression and her twitching fingers in astonishment, but then Sakura grins at her in that same feral way.

"Just kidding," she sing-songs, and slams her forehead into Ino's, promptly knocking her out.

( _Told you we'd win!_ )

…

"Ne, Sasuke," Naruto 'whispers'. "Who knew Sakura-chan was such a pervert?"

If Sakura hears the remark, she makes no indication of it. She merely claps her hands together as if they'd gotten dusty, and whistling a jaunty tune, she reclaims her place on the balcony besides her team.

"What are you staring at?" She raises an eyebrow at Kakashi, who is, for once, at a total loss as to what just happened.

In all honesty, he hadn't thought a whole lot about Sakura because Naruto has a demon inside him and Sasuke is obsessively homicidal and now targeted by Orochimaru, but apparently he'd seriously jumped the gun in assuming that Sakura would require the least attention.

It turns out that _all_ his students are utterly, unapologetically weird.

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	5. Reality is a Chicken and an Egg

**A/N : **Thank you to everyone as usual! If you're in the east coast area, enjoy your snow day, and happy reading! :)

* * *

Chapter 4

"Reality is a Chicken _and_ an Egg"

...

The first thing Ino thinks when she wakes up is, "What the hell happened."

It's not so much a question as a statement. She clearly remembers the events of her preliminary round, but in all her experiences with her clan's jutsu, she's never had anything like that happen. Her uncle, Yamanaka Santa, can swap consciousness and house two at once, but for someone outside the clan? How could a regular shinobi inhabit another's body without the aiding will of a Yamanaka? Or have two minds, for that matter?

The next thought is that she's furious, both at Sakura, and at herself. Sakura for tricking her, grabbing her boobs, and threatening to kill her, obviously, but also at herself for falling for such a stupid trick. She'd let herself get knocked out like an untrained civilian because of an insincere, vaguely sexual remark – just dropped her guard and become flustered in an instant. In any other battle that would have gotten her killed.

Ino rubs her eyes tiredly and has to admit that, at the very least, she's glad she didn't wind up like Yoroi.

She's in a hospital room and has to wonder why. She hadn't suffered any major injuries in the forest, and she likely hadn't received more than a concussion from Sakura's head butt. Besides the standard hospital bed and the two chairs against the wall, the room is empty. The curtains have been drawn open, the sunlight streaming through nearly white in color – she guesses it's probably around noon and frowns. Injuries or no, that means she'd slept for a solid sixteen hours. Her muscles are weary and sore and beg her not to move. She wonders how long she can get away with lazing about before anyone takes notice that she's awake, but almost as soon as the thought crosses her mind, someone knocks on the door.

 _Damn_.

"Come in," she calls out, languidly stretching herself into an upright position. She expects Shikamaru, or Chouji, or maybe Asuma-sensei with their condolences. She's surprised to open her eyes to the masked figure of Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei," she states, hiding her disquiet. "How are you?"

He lifts a hand in greeting and smiles. "Doing quite well, thank you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, good."

A long, awkward silence ensues, one that Kakashi doesn't seem to notice. Thirty seconds go by. He's still standing in the doorway with his hand raised as if no time has passed at all, and finally, the pressure of the compounding quiet urges Ino to speak. She resists the urge to anxiously fiddle with the hospital gown. "Did you need something from me, sensei?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, Ino-chan," he announces brightly. She purses her lips to keep from pointing out that he'd obviously been waiting for her to do exactly that. No wonder Kakashi got stuck with all the weirdos – he's a weirdo too. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about, but first, I'd like to apologize for my student."

Ino sighs and gathers her hair over her shoulder, braiding it idly. "You mean Sakura."

"Right."

"There's no need to apologize, sensei. She won the match fair and square."

"Ah, that may be so," he replies genially, completely ignoring the seriousness of the conversation, "but it's fairly inappropriate to threaten to kill a comrade, even in a life or death situation."

Did he have to phrase it like that…?

"I'm not much of a comrade," Ino mumbles bitterly, frowning at the ends of her hair.

"Neither am I, apparently," Kakashi agrees. His tone falters a bit. "But that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

She waits for him to finish, but Kakashi proves immune to social conventions or else finds this very entertaining, so Ino finally prompts him, "What, exactly?"

"I was hoping you could help Sakura."

"Help her _what_?" Ino drops her hair to cross her arms over her chest. "Make friends?"

Kakashi shakes his head. "Not quite. I was hoping you could help her sort out what's in her head, although," he amends, "I wouldn't disagree that she could use some friends, too…"

That much is obvious. Ino turns to face the window, thinking. She wants to ask why she would help Sakura, but they both know why because they both feel the same way: guilty. As much as Sakura – one of them, at least – pissed her off in the preliminary match, she'd made a good point. Ino knew of the relentless bullying and had all the opportunities in the world to help, and she made the conscious decision not to on innumerable occasions. Sakura had obviously suffered a great deal more than she'd let on, all for the sake of everyone else's convenience. As far as Ino knows, the girl never spoke a word about it to anyone. Not the pain, the anger, the loneliness – none of it. She didn't even wear it outwardly, like Sasuke, and she didn't stuff it under ambition like Naruto. Sakura had simply smothered it, boxed it up, internalized it so deeply that she'd needed a separate personality to wall off that pain from herself and everyone else.

She'd literally created another person to handle her emotions in order to spare anyone else from having to try.

Ino rubs her eyes again. She can't even begin to fathom that kind of emotional trauma in such an amount. She'd never been put in a position where she _had_ to think about it. "How do you expect me to help her?" She asks finally.

"I thought you might know better than me," Kakashi admits. "I don't fully understand all the subtleties of – this particular kind of condition, but your clan is particularly adept at dealing with these sorts of things, and among my thousand known techniques, the Yamanaka's is one I've never been able to figure out."

He's needling her with compliments. Ino politely does not point out that he's being rather obvious about it. At the end of the day, she'd help with or without his flattery. "I can try," she offers, "but I've never dealt with this either. Shouldn't you really be asking my father?"

"I thought that might make Sakura feel like she's being punished. She's… feeling rather bad about the situation as it is."

Ino can only imagine. Their embarrassing match had been more of a reflection of Sakura's personality than Ino's.

"I'll try," Ino agrees readily. After all, helping Sakura will be beneficial for them both – Sakura in an obvious way, and Ino could use the experience. It's quite the unusual opportunity for insight into the workings of the human psyche, and it's not everyday, or any day, really, that one comes across a person with two distinct personalities inside them. Besides, now that she's disqualified from the final round of the chunin exams, this is really the only productive thing she can do besides help out her mother's flower shop. It won't be bad for her guilty conscious, either.

…And it might be fun to have someone idolize her, not that she'd ever mention that thought aloud…

"When should I start?"

#

Sakura actually proves harder to convince than Ino, Kakashi finds. For being so meek – at least outwardly – the girl remains surprisingly adamant. She even goes so far as to cloak herself in order to avoid the conversation, but of course, he easily sees through it, now that he's actually searching for her. He finally corners her when she inevitably returns to her hospital room.

Before he can even speak, she bows her head. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry, I didn't mean what I said, I wasn't myself and I –"

"Sakura," he interrupts her tearful apology. She winces, expecting a reprimand, and he puts his hand on her head and thinks about the first time he'd done that, the mistake he'd made. Another one to add to a long list of regrets, he thinks wearily. "It's okay. You were right. I should have prepared you better, and I'm sorry."

"I – you – it's okay, sensei… really," she insists, still unable to look him in the eye. "I was just feeling sorry for myself. It wasn't that bad."

He looks pointedly at the bandages covering two-thirds of her body. "It was," he starts, but that acknowledgement of her pain goes against every fiber of her being, and she replies so hastily it almost sounds like a rebuke.

"It's nothing!" She says firmly. "Really. It's nothing."

Kakashi sighs inaudibly, glad for the millionth time in his life to have the mask to hide his frustration. "Even so, I think it's about time you got some special training, and especially now considering your… unique situation."

"Special training?"

"To help you control… well, yourself," he clarifies. "I'm hardly qualified to help you handle something like this, so I've requested that someone else assist you."

Sakura finally looks up at him, her head tilted quizzically. "Who?"

"Ino," he says with a smile, wondering if maybe his friendliness will dull the resistance he's sure to receive from her.

It doesn't.

"Ah, no, sensei, I – I – she – I can't do that." Sakura shakes her head and sinks down onto the hospital bed.

"Why not? She's well suited for this sort of training."

Sakura mumbles something he doesn't catch, and he finds himself leaning forward and cupping his ear in that way that makes him feel like a foolish old man. "What was that?"

"But," Sakura clears her throat, "she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, Sakura."

"Yes she does!" She blurts out, wrapping the blanket around her and pulling it up to her chin.

In as mollifying a tone as possible, Kakashi presses. "She doesn't – she even offered to help already."

Sakura lowers the blanket marginally. Her eyes are wide and her bottom lip drawn between her teeth. She reminds him of a stray dog cautiously approaching an outstretched hand, and the analogy does nothing to assuage his regrets. "Really?"

"Really," he affirms. "She said she'd meet you tomorrow at our training grounds to get started. What do you say?"

Sakura hesitates, looking between Kakashi and the blanket as if either one might offer some solution for her anxiety. "…Will you come with me?"

Kakashi pats her on the head, and she's too appreciative of the gesture to be annoyed by how patronizing it is.

"Of course," he agrees.

#

Kakashi does come with her, but only to drop her off, explaining that his presence might interfere with the process. She might've assumed he was making excuses, but the fact that he showed up on time was proof enough of his sincerity. Even with him there, though, when Ino arrives, Sakura has cloaked herself in genjutsu, perhaps reflexively.

"Sakura," Kakashi says to the seemingly empty space beside him. "Come on now, she's not going to bite you."

Ino watches, surprised and impressed, as Sakura wavers into existence only two yards in front of her. It's sort of like hallucinating in the dark – you think you see a man but then you blink and find yourself staring at the coatrack.

Kakashi pats her on the head again and gives her a gentle nudge in Ino's direction. "If you need anything, just come find me," he reassures her, as if finding Kakashi is an easy task. "You kids play nice now!"

He vanishes promptly after the cheery declaration, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

The two girls stand awkwardly in the lush grass of training ground three. Sakura admires just how lush it is – absolutely verdant, really; the foliage in Konoha grows so well, perhaps there's something about the soil rather than the climate… and Ino, meanwhile, waits uncertainly to see which Sakura she's dealing with. She'd come here prepared for an argument, but it appears that won't be on the to-do list for the day. The silence drags for a long, long time, interrupted only by the breeze and the shouts of a distant team training on neighboring grounds.

"How are your injuries?" Ino asks finally, startling Sakura from her fascinating observations on the peculiar symmetry of leaves.

"I – ah, they're…. fine," Sakura mumbles. "How are yours?"

Ino shrugs. "They're alright. You gave me one hell of a punch, though. How did you do that, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura admits. "It, um… it wasn't me."

Ino catalogues that information. The separation between the two personalities is distinct enough, apparently, that they can keep techniques from each other, which could be a good or a bad thing. Ino isn't sure. On the one hand, it could allow for two different specializations housed in one body. Not to mention, it might make her a fantastic liar since only one of her might know a secret at a time, if they can learn to keep information from each other as well as jutsu. It might be infinitely useful if Sakura could ever be convinced to do a reconnaissance mission, which brings Ino to the most pressing issue: Sakura doesn't have the confidence to take advantage of her skillset, no matter what Ino might be able to teach her.

Her self-esteem is the problem that needs to be addressed before anything else can be – and it _is_ a dire problem. The silence has only lasted ten seconds and Sakura is already shifting her feet, her gaze flickering to the side to avoid Ino's face, and as easy as it might be to simply request the presence of the other Sakura to teach, that would be besides the point. And counterintuitive. For Sakura to learn to control this, she has to believe that both parts are worthwhile, not just one. Mental fortitude is mostly about balance. They'd have to be equals or they'd risk upsetting that equilibrium. One might overtake the other, as exemplified by the preliminary match, or else they might run each other into the ground. Or worse.

Ino hums thoughtfully and circles Sakura, who fidgets nervously under the critical stare. There are a few things that Ino knows will help boost the girl's confidence. After all, she'd been bullied largely because of her forehead at first, although it'd devolved into a general victimizing once it became obvious that she was an easy target and unable, or unwilling, to defend herself. But the forehead. Ino can do something about that.

"Come with me," she smiles at Sakura. "I have something for you."

Cautiously, Sakura follows her down the dirt path leading out of the training grounds. Normally, such a phrase would be followed by something that Sakura did _not_ want, like a kick, or some kind of practical joke, but Kakashi said that Ino doesn't hate her, and Ino doesn't _appear_ to hate her, at least, so Sakura follows. They weave through the people traffic and garner a few odd looks on the way. They're admittedly an unusual pair to be seen together, but the number of glances is a little much. Ino turns back to Sakura and notices that the girl is all but cowering under the attention. Listening closely, she strains her ears to try and parse out the gossip.

"Hey, have you ever seen her before?"

"You'd think I'd remember a girl with pink hair…"

"Odd looking one, isn't she?"

"Is she from out of town?"

Ino's stomach sinks a bit at the words. It seems that Sakura has spent more time invisible than visible to the point that, even with her oddly colored hair – a cruel irony, really – she's managed to go unnoticed by most of the people in town. It's definitely not a good sign.

"Where are we?" Sakura asks quietly, acting much the part of a frightened animal. Even the tinkling of the bell over the door seems to startle her.

"My family's flower shop." Ino's tone is gentle. She doesn't allow herself to get annoyed by the other girl's skittishness. "Here, come take a seat in the back."

She leads Sakura past the colorful displays in the small shop and to the storage room. It's mostly filled with supplies, ribbons and tissue paper and a large fridge for preserving some of the overstocked flora, as well as a small table covered in papers. Sakura sits and waits stiffly as Ino circles behind her, uncomfortable with not being able to see the other girl, but she doesn't fight it when her hitai-ate is untied.

It dangles from Ino's hand as she studies the other girl's face. She reaches out and brushes aside the stray locks of hair, and Sakura flinches away from the touch, which Ino notices and kindly pretends not to. "Did you cut your hair, or did someone else do it?"

"…Someone else," Sakura says, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

Ino nods and reaches for the scissors, again disregarding Sakura's recoil. "I'm guessing it wasn't a stylist," she smiles good-naturedly. "They cut it so the front is longer than the back."

"Is that bad?"

"That depends. Do you want to look like Sasuke-kun?"

"Will I get all the ladies?"

Ino blinks. Sakura stares. They both look at each other in confusion, and then Sakura promptly slaps a hand over her mouth and bites on the meat of her thumb, looking more frustrated than embarrassed. After a long ten seconds, she releases her hand, the imprints of her teeth noticeable in the skin.

"Sorry," she mumbles. "Not me."

Ino shakes her head and laughs. "It's okay, I'm sure I'll get used to it. But, I'm assuming you want to avoid the Sasuke-kun-style cut?"

"Ah, yes, I think so," Sakura agrees. She tilts her head back at Ino's behest to let her work her magic.

Ino slings a spare towel around Sakura's shoulders and begins to cut her hair, wetting it in parts with the misting bottles they use to dampen the potted tropical flowers. There are a lot of things she wants to ask, but she's not sure what might scare the other girl away. Even now, her teeth are still clamped together as if she's just waiting for Ino to turn the scissors on her in some violent way.

It's difficult to be around Sakura and not feel that guilty tug of her heartstrings. How someone could slip by in life so unnoticed by everyone around her brings up a lot of questions – ones that, again, she's not sure she should ask.

"So," Ino starts as casually as possible. "I guess the other you is a lot more vocal now that you've given her some control, huh?"

"Yes…" Sakura agrees carefully.

"I imagine that's normal. When you have two minds in the same space, they tend to try and overtake one another by reflex, since they both want to be the one in power. In my case, my clan learns to simply dominate the other through practice and mental agility. In your case…" she trails off, thinking. "You should consider a negotiation of some kind."

"Negotiation?" Sakura repeats curiously.

"Sure. If you ask me, I think it's best to share," Ino explains, glossing over the slight lie. It's the truth in a general sense. Greater good and all that. In a specific sense, Ino is inclined to believe that sharing is great mostly when it's _other_ people sharing with _her_. But now isn't the time for specifics. "Why not be equals? I'm sure both of you have your talents, and each of you might be better suited for completing certain tasks, so I don't see a reason why you couldn't learn to freely switch back and forth as you see fit."

Sakura doesn't respond, considering, probably. Ino takes the time to level out the back of her hair. She cuts the uneven tips shorter so it no longer trails over her ears and layers the top as long as the choppy cut will allow. It's a little boyish, but at least it's even, and it'll grow out eventually anyway.

"…Do you think that would be okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Ino runs her fingers across Sakura's scalp to remove any broken hairs. Sakura tenses under the touch but seems more relaxed about it than she'd been half-an-hour ago. The distracting conversation probably helps.

"She says a lot of… things," Sakura speaks carefully. "…More than she should, I think."

"Yeah. I noticed," Ino admits, trying to hide her unease. She doesn't want Sakura to think that she makes her nervous, but she _does_ make her nervous, at least a little bit. She hasn't forgotten the unintentional declaration Sakura made during their fight – ' _I don't want to kill her'_ – which, while normally a good thing, could only mean that Sakura had been arguing with a part of herself that decidedly _did_ want to kill her.

And dying is not on Ino's list of things to do.

She doesn't know how to broach the subject though. If the other half of Sakura is joking around with her now, then it's unlikely that her malice has carried over from the battle, and at the very least, _this_ Sakura doesn't want her dead. That counts for something. Hopefully all this means that the worst Ino will have to deal with are some strange off-colored remarks. And speaking of colors…

She roots through the extra supplies and at last recovers a box of ribbon, holding each coil up to Sakura's face and trying to pick a color. Her outfit is red, her dress trimmed with white, but her eyes are green, and her hair is pink, and her shorts and sandals are navy blue… Ino bites her lip. Really, this girl is so color uncoordinated it's almost offensive. Did anyone bother to tell her that red and pink hardly ever go together? It's like a bad Valentine's day advertisement, and then you throw blue into the mix and it's like – _Hello, I see that Dr. Seuss has dressed you_ – like, woah, eyesore much? And –

aaaannnd…

Ino nearly smacks herself. Well, no, Sakura has never had anyone to tell her how to coordinate her clothes, except maybe her mother. And if her mother is anything like many mothers out there, she probably thinks Sakura looks cute in everything. Now is not the time to mention any of this though. If Sakura is going to insist on wearing a red dress – albeit, a cute one – with all of these mismatched items, at the very least, she can have her headband coordinate with it.

With a pair of pliers, Ino pries the metal tabs off of the hitai-ate and pushes them through the thick red ribbon she'd chosen, a blend of polyester and cotton along the lines of a bandana and not too far off from the fabric of her old one. Attaching the protective metal to the center and giving it a test yank, she finds it secure and approaches Sakura, tying the ribbon so that the protective metal is at the top of her head.

( _…This is an idiotic way to wear a headband._ )

 _Well, I'm sure there's a reason for it…_

( _What? In case someone tries to stab you through the top of your skull? What kind of –_ )

"What do you think?" Ino interrupts, holding a handheld mirror up to Sakura's face.

Sakura stares at her reflection. Her hair is evened out now, far from the blend of bedhead and "I might put on a mask at night to kill people" look she'd been sporting since her encounter with Kin in the Forest of Death. The hairdo is swept forward and just short enough to be kept out of her eyes. It sticks out at odd angles in places, and as she attempts to press these into some semblance of alignment, Ino stills her with a dismissive wave.

"Whoever cut your hair did it so that it's going to stick up until it grows a bit longer, but don't worry. The bedhead look is cute on you," she smiles reassuringly. "And besides, if you're really – interested in pursuing other girls, short hair might be more your style."

Sakura does not miss the beat of hesitation in Ino's words or the way her eyes drift briefly to the side, but these signs could mean any number of things and she doesn't put any stock into them. More pressingly, she's too busy being horrendously embarrassed.

"I – I'm not – uh – I'm not interested in anyone, really," she says, ignoring the flabbergasted voice in her head that's heartily disagreeing with her.

At this, Ino looks thoroughly intrigued. She sits on the edge of the table closest to Sakura and puts her elbows on her knees, leaning forward interestedly. "No one? Really?"

"No – not, not really…"

"Not even Sasuke-kun?"

At this Sakura opens her mouth and then promptly closes it. "Uh…"

Ino figures it out quickly. "I'm guessing your other half has something to say about that."

Meekly, Sakura nods, and Ino readjusts her posture, leaning back so her hands are flat on the tabletop. She does this partially for comfort and partially to make a getaway easier, since she's about to invite someone hostile to the party. "Why don't you try switching? That way she can talk to me herself, and you can figure out how it's supposed to work," she suggests, but Sakura looks reluctant at best.

"She, um… she's saying some pretty vulgar things…"

Ino waves nonchalantly, "I can handle it. Go ahead."

"Okay…" Sakura agrees dubiously. She closes her eyes.

 _How do we…?_

( _I don't know. We were only able to last time because Ino made this – this rift thing in here, uh… maybe you should ask her?_ )

"How do I – we do this?" Sakura asks. "She doesn't know either."

Ino gives her a wide, whimsical smile. "You have to use your imagination!" She says cheerfully. She waves a hand in front of her as if she's casting a rainbow before her own eyes. Sakura can't tell if she's joking or not.

"…What do you mean?"

Ino seems entertained by her own humor and not at all perturbed by the lack of shared amusement in it, but after a moment, her face readjusts into something a little more serious. "Think of it like this. When you're trying to cast a jutsu, you have to manipulate the effect of your chakra through intent, right?"

"Right…"

"And intent is a manifestation of imagined results," Ino says as if she's reciting it from a textbook, or perhaps it's something those learning the jutsu of her clan must hear a hundred times a day. "It relies on your visualization of the energy, and in order to comprehend something abstract, you have to conceptualize it in a way that makes sense to you. Like, for example," she continues, noticing with no small amount of pleasure the open admiration on Sakura's face. "What do you think the inside of someone's head looks like?"

Sakura, still wide-eyed at the wealth of knowledge before her, merely shakes her head.

"Exactly," Ino stands and begins pacing the small room, eagerly fulfilling the role of master to her willing student. "It doesn't look like anything until its defined, so if you're going to enter someone's mind, you have to invent the imagery needed in order to make the space navigable, since most people don't usually spend time designing their own mindscape."

"So… what happens if you don't do that, then?" Sakura asks curiously. Information has always drawn her like a moth to a flame, and this is something she's never even heard of.

Ino shrugs. "Then you shouldn't be performing the technique. If you don't have a strong concept of where you are, and who you are, at all times, then you'll get lost. You wouldn't exist."

"Wouldn't exist?" Sakura repeats skeptically, and at this Ino stops pacing.

She isn't sure how much of her clan's techniques she's allowed to share. They are, after all, _secret_ techniques, and those secrets are covered by two hundred or so years of laws and their attached archaic punishments – really, who would remove someone's hand for speaking their clan name backwards? – but Sakura's is an odd case. She's not affiliated with any other clans in the village, so she's a safer bet than most, and she's certainly got some weird mental things going on anyway. Teaching her this much probably won't hurt… probably.

"Right," Ino says after a lengthy pause. "Well, for example, I'm sure you know already that if I use my technique and I miss, I won't come back to my body for a fairly long time." Sakura nods. "That's because I have to find my way back. Like I said, in order to travel around without a body holding you, or anything grounding you to tangible reality, it's really easy to forget who you are and where you came from. Or even that you're really real. I run the same risk when I enter someone's mind. If I haven't crafted and defined my new perception of reality, I could get enmeshed in another person's consciousness, or lost. Forever."

"Forever," Sakura repeats thoughtfully. It's a difficult thing to wrap her head around, the idea that Ino has to be constantly, definitively aware of who she is in order to exist for long stretches of time.

 _Is that why she's so confident, do you think? Because if she questions herself even a little, she runs the risk of losing her mind?_

( _Man, I don't know, but that's some deep shit._ )

Ino smiles comfortingly, mistaking Sakura's curiosity for worry. "It's alright – that rarely happens," – which of course, Sakura thinks, means that it _does_ happen sometimes – "But that's not the point, anyway."

"So I won't disappear?"

"No," Ino chuckles, but she stops mid-laugh. "...I don't think so, anyway, but if something goes wrong, I'll be here to help you out."

This doesn't seem to reassure her a whole lot. With trepidation evident in her voice, Sakura makes weary eye contact. "Are you sure?"

"I promise." Ino is the picture of confidence. She doesn't give Sakura more time to doubt herself. "Anyway, the point is that if you're going to switch places in any reliable way, you have to come up with an image that works for both of you. Imagine yourselves meeting at some point of separation, like a line in the sand, or a door in a wall, and agreeing to swap positions. That way you'll both have a clear idea of who is where."

Sakura looks skeptical. "Is that how it works for you?"

"Nope," Ino shrugs. "But you're not trying to ruthlessly take over all aspects of someone's brain functioning – "

 _..Scary…_

" – you're trying to work with someone already in there. It should be easier for you to do it this way. Just try it," she finishes with a smile. She doesn't mention that she has no experience with something like this and is, in fact, coming up with it all on the fly. It _sounds_ right, at least… "Consider it the first part of your training."

Sakura nods and closes her eyes, hoping that might make it easier.

 _Alright. A door… a line in the sand… okay…_

( _You're just thinking the words, you goofball, not actually picturing them._ )

 _Then why don't you try?_

( _…I'm not the creative type._ )

…

( _Well, you know, it might be easier to meet some place if I had an image of_ myself _to start with. I guess I could just look like you, but wouldn't that get confusing?_ )

… _I guess you're right. So, what do you want to look like?_

"Are you alright, Sakura?"

Sakura, redder than her own dress, manages a nod. "I… uh, she's picking an image for herself."

Ino raises an eyebrow but doesn't ask. When Sakura closes her eyes again, this time, there's a second person there. ...A tall, busty, curvaceous person that looks just like her and nothing like her at all. The Sakura before her eyes is dressed, basically, in a maroon catsuit that ends in heeled, knee-high black boots. The hairstyle remains surprisingly unchanged.

… _I see…_

( _What? Got a problem with it?_ ) Inner Sakura asks, poking her other self in the chest.

 _Ah, no, not at all. Um, so should we…?_ She gestures at the black void around them. The space is completely devoid of everything, even light, which makes Sakura wonder briefly how they can see each other at all. No sooner has she questioned the reality than it changes, a sun bursting from some obtuse angle in the distance, and if there's sun then it has to shine on something, doesn't it? Sakura's quick, logical brain runs through a series of associated necessities – _sun means temperature, climate, earth, which means land, forests, trees, soil, water –_ until, in an instant, they're standing in the middle of a well-lit field bordered by forests.

( _Ooh, nicely done! Does this mean we can redecorate? It has been a little drab in here, I must say…_ )

 _Another time,_ Sakura promises. _For now – line or door?_

( _Line_ ), is the instant reply. ( _It's a quicker transition. Maybe with a gateway to mark it?_ )

They both close their eyes and concentrate on a gateway, imagining an arch under which they might cross to switch places into the forefront and the background of consciousness, but one that must be conjured with imaginative detail. It has to be a convincing, memorable gateway, or else it might be lost…

When both of them open their eyes, they're looking at two distinctly different images.

On one side stands a traditional red _torii,_ about ten feet high, crafted with deeply aged wood. Simple patterns are carved into the top, some understated white accents painted down the beams, and the flag with the circle crest of their family hangs from the center.

On the other side, however, are two rectangular pillars that support another rectangular pillar.

That's it.

 _You weren't kidding about not being a creative person._

( _Hey! It's functional isn't it?!_ )

 _Yes, but how will you keep it distinctive? In case you need to come back here right away?_

The Sakura in question puffs out her rather ample chest in pride and points a finger at the top beam, upon which there is a small engraving in a noticeably messy scrawl.

( _I wrote my name on it!_ )

… _I guess that works._

( _Exactly! So, can we switch?_ )

Outwardly, there doesn't seem to be much happening. It almost appears as if Sakura dozed off at some point. In the fifteen or so minutes of silence, Ino busies herself picking up small messes in the storage room and reminds herself to berate her father for being so disorderly. She's not concerned with the amount of time it's taking – although it sounds simple, Ino is well aware that conjuring and maintaining such a stable picture in one's mind is not an easy thing to accomplish. Sakura must make something memorable, she must remember it the same way each time, and it has to be in the same place – which means she has to remember the way her mindscape is set up in exactly the same way each time, too, and where the gate is in relation to that.

It's not easy.

Ino considers that maybe she isn't giving her enough credit though, considering that Sakura _did_ ace every exam ever handed to her in a way that implies a photographic memory (or so Ino had gathered when she'd cheated through Sakura during the chunin exam), and sure enough, when Sakura opens her eyes, her demeanor has noticeably changed from when she'd closed them. It's a pretty obvious change, too. …Really obvious. The first thing she does is squeeze her own boobs. What is it with her and boobs, Ino wonders.

"Damn. I look so much hotter in my head," Sakura sighs. She fixes Ino with a long stare, half of which is directed at her breasts, perhaps in comparison. "So, why am I here again?" She asks after a long pause.

Ino politely pretends not to notice any of this. She keeps a wary distance from this Sakura, still unsure as to what she's liable to do. Or anything about her, really, but she seems to be impulsive, and impulsive people tend to be unpredictable in Ino's experience. The fact that this one nearly killed her does not make her any more relaxed. "You were going to tell me about Sasuke-kun," Ino reminds her casually, her indifferent tone concealing her apprehension.

Sakura immediately grimaces. "Oh! Yeah, right – well, let me tell you, I have no idea why you're interested in him."

"Actually –"

"He's arrogant, egotistical, self-absorbed, single minded, inconsiderate, self-important – okay, I mean, he's got a good heart. Or that's what Sakura is saying, anyway," she concedes. "And he does. I mean, he wouldn't admit it in a million years because he's got more pride than Rock Lee has eyebrows, but that doesn't make him any more attractive as a prospective boyfriend. A good guy is a good guy, but a good guy can still be a petty fucking asshole."

She pauses here to kick her feet up onto the table, and Ino cannot help but be fascinated by how her posture and attitude are so utterly antithetical to the person she'd just been speaking to a moment ago. This Sakura sits with one leg lying flat on the table, the other pressed against its edge so she can rock herself precariously on the chair, completely confident in her ability to maintain her balance. She looks Ino in the eye when she speaks, doesn't stutter, and has little regard for modesty – her shorts ride up to just below her crotch, but she doesn't fix them.

"I mean, get this," Sakura continues, oblivious to Ino's inspection. "The other day, Sakura invites him out to go watch that new movie – the one with Setsuna-something-or-other in it? You know the one? – and he actually snorts, I kid you not, like a pig, and then he says, 'Why would I waste my time on such a useless activity?' And Sakura is really nice about it because she's, you know, always really nice, but in _my_ head, I'm like, 'oh, excuse me, Mr. Royal-Stick-In-His-Ass, I didn't realize that trying to include you in my plebeian lifestyle would offend your Godliness!'"

She looks at Ino, clearly expecting her to agree, which she does, although she's still a little busy being flabbergasted by the dramatic change in persona. "Yeah, that's kind of an asshole move."

"Right?!" Sakura throws her arms out. "The first day we were assigned on a team together, he told Sakura that she 'isn't worth knowing,'" she does the air quotes and everything. "Can you believe that?"

"No, actually," Ino blinks in surprise. "I mean, I do believe you, but that's a little much, isn't it?"

" _Absolutely_ ," Sakura rolls her eyes. In a moment of brief vertigo, she tips back in her chair. She hears Ino dart forward to help her, but she's already arched her back to catch the ground with one hand, the other holding the chair out at an angle to keep it from clattering to the floor. She continues speaking as if nothing happened. "I know the guy's been through some shit, but I hate how he thinks that exempts him from being a decent human being. I really want to care about him, you know? He _is_ my teammate. But he just makes it so damn difficult –"

"How are you doing that?" Ino interrupts, squinting at Sakura's point of balance. She's holding herself up with only her thumb.

Sakura, remembering her contorted position, flips herself upright and replaces the chair at the table.

"Oh, I don't really know how to explain it. It's like," she makes some ambiguous hand gestures, like the sun rising, and a bomb exploding, and then claps her hands together, smiling as if that's a sufficient explanation. "You know what I mean?"

"I… take it that it's some kind of reflexive thing?"

"Yeah!" Sakura grins. "That sounds about right."

"But you – the other Sakura – can't do it?"

"Not without my help," she shrugs. "Just like I can't do her genjutsu."

Interesting. She'd thought that Sakura's more boisterous half had intentionally kept the technique to herself, but apparently they simply don't share the same capacity to perform it. A dozen ideas run through Ino's mind – namely, how many skills could a person learn if she were two people? _A lot_ , she thinks, ignoring the small bite of envy that arises at the realization. It's not like Sakura's "gift" hadn't come at a cost, and besides, every person has their talents, and Ino has long accepted that hers are what they are. She'll never crack mountains in half or set continents on fire, but she's great at what she does, and that's what matters.

With that thought in mind, she reminds herself of her resolve to help Sakura learn to function as two people, but she'll have to get some help on that end. Ino might be well adapted to instruct Sakura on the finer points of mental acuity and dexterousness, but actually teaching the other girl functional jutsu in accordance with her chakra and personality type – that is beyond her. She's still learning to do it herself.

"Alright, I think I know what we should do. How about you meet me back at training ground three tomorrow, around two in the afternoon. Does that work?"

"Sounds good!" Sakura gives her a thumbs-up. "What will we be doing?"

"It's a surprise," Ino replies with intentional obscurity. She isn't even sure yet. She covers up her lack of knowledge by walking Sakura pointedly to the front door. "Just be prepared to learn something new."

Sakura pumps a fist in the air. "Sweet! I hope it's something cool! You're really awesome for teaching us, you know," she grins at Ino over her shoulder, and Ino offers a sincere – albeit more subdued – smile in response, though she stores the flattery away to think about at a later time. (Ino does love flattery).

"It's no trouble, really. And," she adds, remembering the other Sakura's self-consciousness. "You got the switch down really fast."

"Thanks!"

They reach the front door and are about to part ways when Sakura suddenly stops, pivoting on her heel so quickly that Ino nearly walks into her face. She points a finger at Ino accusingly, though there is nothing hostile in her features. "So, you never told me, why _do_ you like Sasuke?"

Ino stares at her blankly, as if she needs to think about it, but really she's just wondering why the question even needs to be asked. She turns her palms up and shrugs. "Because he's hot," she says indifferently.

Sakura gives her a long, hard stare that Ino meets without hesitation. The chime on the doorframe tinkles in the breeze blowing in from the gap, Sakura having nudged it open with her foot. A minute passes.

"Yeah," she sighs as if the statement somehow bereaves her. "He _is_ really hot."

Then she opens the door, stepping out into the sunlight, and leaves Ino alone to ponder their totally poignant conversation.

* * *

 _#_

 _Hurray! Sakura's finally getting help?! I'm too kind, really..._

 _Feedback? :)_


	6. Green is the New Black

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone as usual! Your reviews make me jump for joy! :D If anyone else was wondering about the final round of the exams, I've altered the situation a little bit because... I'm short-sighted and prone to forgetting details. My bad... It'll be explained eventually in another chapter, but there are two months between the preliminaries and the finals, and the match-ups of the last round will be chosen later. Again, sorry about that - it's been a while since I've actually seen this part of the series.

Also, I realize I'm giving Kakashi a bit of a hard time. I love him in the series, but I do think he's pretty negligent as a teacher. That's especially the case without knowing why he's spirited Sasuke away, so as I much as I enjoy his character, he won't be getting a lot of love from our two heroines any time soon. :(

Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 5

"Green is the New Black"

...

Ino's first idea is to ask Kakashi-sensei where to go with Sakura's training. He _is_ her sensei, after all, and though he'd shouldered his duties onto Ino somewhat, that doesn't exempt him from stepping in when she really needs aid.

Except apparently it does.

Kakashi, as Ino learns, is off training Sasuke privately. Sakura's ranting during their fight in the preliminaries suddenly makes a lot more sense. He at least has the decency to leave a note – a note containing only two words, but it's a place to start: "Ask Gai." Ask him what, though? To help them train? Where Kakashi ran off to? Ino isn't sure, but even before all those things, there's at least one person she knows who may be able to point her in the right direction.

As much as she finds the T&I headquarters somewhat disquieting, Ino braves the benign looking structure, flashing a smile to the guards at the front who let her in without question. Anyone can access the building - the front offices do a great job of concealing what happens behind them. It's getting to the back rooms that requires real security clearance that Ino doesn't have, so she politely asks the receptionist if he would be willing to fetch her father for her.

 _He must be in the middle of something_ , she figures uneasily, not wanting to think about what that "something" might be. T&I is a necessary part of Konoha's military, and it's not a job that she looks down on, even morally, but she can't deny that it makes her somewhat uncomfortable. For a few reasons. On the one hand, imagining someone going through that process under Ibiki is gut-wrenching. On the other hand, imagining that there will be times in her life where she may find herself in exactly that position, only in the hands of a foreign-nin, is even more so.

"Dad," she smiles, tucking her hand into his and letting him lead her to the break room. He takes a seat with her at the small table and uses the opportunity to eat his lunch.

"And to what do I owe this visit, Ino?"

She steals one of the tempura from his bento with a grateful smile. "So, remember how I told you I lost to that girl, Sakura, in the preliminaries?"

"I remember."

"Kakashi-sensei asked me to help her work out her… unique mental situation."

Inoichi's eyebrows raise slightly. He leans back in his chair. "Did he now?"

"I don't mind doing it, really," she placates at his skeptical look, "but I was wondering if you had any experience with anyone like her. Advice, maybe?"

Her father hums around a bite of food. "How extensive is the damage?"

"They're entirely different. They even know different jutsu."

Inwardly, Ino frowns at the wording. Something about relegating the rash, outgoing Sakura to a defect feels cruel. They both seem awfully human to her, but she doesn't know how to argue that point without sounding like a loon.

"Then it will be like training two different people, and that training will be like training any other person. Assuming, of course," his voice is carefully neutral, "that you're not planning on showing her the ropes in mental dexterity."

"Not beyond what's needed to be functional."

Her reply reflects the same disinterested tone. They both know better than to trust each other's overt indifference, but it's a necessary game of wills. He's testing her. After a long pause that has Ino sweating just a little bit, Inoichi carries on, "Did Kakashi leave you with someone to help?"

"I'm... not really sure yet."

He sighs deeply. "That guy," he grumbles, lost in thought for a moment before shrugging helplessly at his daughter. "I suggest you help her find an affinity for something, maybe get some induction paper, and then see if you can't recruit a tutor for her. That's about the only advice I have."

Ino replicates her father's exasperated noise. Sakura already has an affinity for genjutsu, but anything else is a mystery. The other Sakura especially. Not to mention, what she wants to do makes up a huge part of that, too – what if she decided to be a spy? Or an explosives specialist? Or both, really? But at least Ino has a vague direction to go in now, so she hugs her father and leaves to grab the necessary supplies before meeting Sakura at the training grounds.

"Oh, Ino?" Her father calls after her. She stops to let him know she's listening. "I know that girl has a unique ability."

Ino knows he's referring specifically to Sakura's brief projection into Ino's body. "Yeah…"

Inoichi waits until his daughter faces him before speaking, his tone solemn. "Be careful what you tell her."

"I will," Ino replies quickly and heads for the door.

Her father's worry isn't completely without warrant. A body inhabited by a double consciousness, where one is at least capable, even if she's not proficient, in mind transfer, could be the set up for a very dangerous person. If she chose to and worked accordingly to do so, Sakura could potentially inhabit two bodies at the same time. She could be in two places at once, be two _people_ at once… She really could have made Ino do anything she wanted during the preliminaries, and if she hadn't announced her presence, no one would have been the wiser. They would have believed it had been Ino.

 _Too much power_ , Ino thinks with a shudder. She doesn't let her imagination run away with the possibilities, though there are many. There's no point.

Sakura wouldn't do that, she hopes, and in any case, Ino wouldn't let her.

#

Chakra Induction Paper is surprisingly expensive. Perhaps she would be more willing to cover its cost if she got the stipend that teachers receive in order to acquire necessary training supplies for their students, but alas, Ino is not Sakura's sensei, despite that it's beginning to feel that way. Really, with Kakashi vanishing on her like that, it seems like he'd just wanted her to play patty cake with Sakura to keep her out of trouble until he got back. And it's not like Ino is especially resistant to spending time with the girl, but if she's going to be relegated with duties on top of it, she should really be getting paid.

But she's not. Ino forks over the cash and frowns at her substantially lightened wallet.

It's also vaguely insulting, she thinks as she heads for the training grounds, that he'd obviously played favorites. All three of his students are participating in the third round of the chunin exams, and he'd elected to train only _one_ , which is absurdly irresponsible, in Ino's book. Especially when she knows that he's probably relying on the fact that Naruto is too easily distracted to complain and Sakura too polite. She'd like to think there's another reason why he ran off with Sasuke like that, something more reasonable, but if there is, she can't figure it out, and asking Sakura would be a fruitless endeavor. She'd probably just cover for him. Or, at least one of her would.

The Sakura she finds waiting for her is obviously the meek one. She's leaning against the trunk of a tree, her head tipped up to watch the clouds go by. Her mind is evidently elsewhere. Or, Ino realizes, she's having a conversation with herself. Her mouth twitches into a small smile, and then seemingly for no reason, she begins to laugh. It's an escalating sound, as if each rare note of it is surprising her into further laughter. Ino finds herself smiling similarly as she approaches the other girl.

 _I wonder,_ _do they laugh differently, too?_

The thought halts her about ten yards away, and she stills, burdened by the sudden recollection. It's easy to overlook Sakura in the memories of her busy academy days. Interacting with her now, however, the gaps where the other girl had been fill in, as if every other time she thought about her youth, she'd somehow forgotten to remember those particular events. Maybe she hadn't let herself.

She was six, Sakura, seven. Their class had been watching the intentionally bad play put on by a couple of their kunoichi-specific sensei - some dumbed down version of a lesson in emotional control, ironically. Sakura's eyes were blank and her mouth set in a flat, apathetic line, like she was someplace else entirely. She hadn't laughed, or giggled, or cracked a smile the entire time. Ino is sure of this because Sakura had gotten berated for it afterwards.

" _You think you're too good to laugh with us?"_

She'd watched her get hauled behind the bushes at the edge of the courtyard. Sakura hadn't even made a sound.

Ino digs her fingers into her palms and ignores the dread and guilt and shame pooling in her gut. They were only children… she wishes it were an excuse, that she could chalk that sort of bullying up to kids being kids, but really, it had been excessive. A personal vendetta, almost, and Sakura had to endure it without a single person to help her, and she'd still never spoken a word about it…

"Ino?" Sakura breaks through her reverie. "Are you okay?"

She bites down on the urge to flinch at the sudden proximity of her voice. "Yeah, sorry. Just got lost in thought. It's a really nice day, isn't it?"

"It is," Sakura agrees, a subtle smile on her face, as if she's afraid of it.

She might be.

Ino swallows thickly and pulls the chakra paper out of her bag, determined to do what she came here to do. "You know what this is, I'm assuming?

"Chakra Induction Paper. When exposed to chakra," Sakura parrots the words from their textbook with remarkable accuracy, "it reacts according to the chakra's latent element, revealing the user's affinity for certain nature transformations."

A 'yes' would have sufficed, but Ino doesn't mention this. Instead, she hands the pack of paper to Sakura and waits expectantly, but the other girl just looks at her.

"…Isn't this expensive?" She whispers, her eyes wide and uncertain.

Ino smiles reassuringly. "Consider it a gift."

"Ah, no, I couldn't, really – you should keep it –"

"And do what with it?" She laughs. "Really, there are five pieces in there, and two of them are for you. I don't have a use for the other three."

Curiously, Sakura tilts her head, is momentarily too overcome by shyness to ask, and then finally does anyway. "Don't you want to try too?"

"Oh." Ino glances down at the thin sheath of paper and frowns. Why hadn't she thought of that? She'd spent her own money on it, after all… "Yeah, of course I'll try it," she mumbles, mostly to herself.

Sakura has been sidling back towards the shade of the large oak tree she'd been standing under, and Ino lets her lead them there. They both seat themselves and withdraw a piece of induction paper. It feels much thinner and more flexible than the paper they're used to writing on – almost like it's been halfway fused with cotton.

"Ready?" Ino asks, feeling oddly apprehensive.

Sakura nods. They hold out their hands and peer intensely at the paper between their fingers. For a brief second, it seems as if nothing will happen, and then they both watch as Ino's dampens and shreds, folding against itself soddenly.

"Water," Ino says aloud, watching the liquid drip onto the grass where it coalesces in small droplets like dew. When she looks up, Sakura is frowning at the pile of crumbled paper in her hand. "Were you hoping for something else?"

Sakura shakes her head. Her reply is shy and heavy with disappointment, "No, I – didn't want anything in particular, I'm just, um… I was hoping it would be the same as yours…" she finishes. She's taken to ripping up the grass at her feet nervously, and when she gathers enough courage to look up, her face is flushed and her teeth worrying the inside of her lip, as if she's just said something offensive.

It's a sad and frustrating thing to watch someone be so terrified to speak her own mind – something Ino has never had trouble with. Her heart squeezes in compassion and she forces herself to act through these thoughts, smiling widely. "Well, it's better this way, isn't it? Now we'll make a better team if – when we train together."

"A – ah…"

She's biting her lip once more, but this time to keep herself from smiling back. There's that fear again. After all, any signs of happiness at the academy likely invited a cruel rebuttal as her tormenters attempted to destroy that happiness…

Ino clenches her jaw. Really, how had she let that go on for so long? She leans forward and sweeps Sakura's bangs out of her eyes. "Pretty girls should smile more," she says with all the forced bravado she can summon. "It's like a gift to the world, you know."

The exaggerated confidence finally begets what Ino is looking for, and this Sakura does smile unabashedly in front of her, finally. "I'll try," she whispers, and then winces as if in pain. She brings a hand to her head and gives Ino an apologetic look. "She wants to try." She adds after a moment, "Really badly."

Ino laughs at that. "Alright, let's do it then."

Sakura closes her eyes in concentration, just long enough for Ino to pick a few of the buttercups from the ground and begin a wreath. Sakura flops backward a little upon reopening them, her posture relaxing enormously.

When Ino said she'd get used to the switch, she really hopes it hadn't been a bluff…

"God, I don't know how the hell she sits upright like that all the damn time," Sakura sighs, and then spying the unused paper on the ground, giddily reaches for one. "I can have one too, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Ino replies, a little flustered by the speed of the interaction.

This is somewhat an exercise in control for her, too. It's difficult to remember that she's dealing with two different people wearing the same face – while it's easy to tie herself to the shy one out of guilt, it's also easy to be fond of her because she's clearly in the throes of a rapidly budding admiration for Ino, which Ino understands completely and will not complain about, since she's really quite an impressive person with a lot of remarkable qualities, and who wouldn't look up to her if she chose to share her much vied for time and skills with them?

And then there's this Sakura. The one who tried to kill her. How close are the two of them, Ino wonders. If she gets upset with one, should she get upset with both? No, she dismisses the thought, because they're clearly capable of disagreeing, it wouldn't make sense that she assume they share the same emotions and opinions. If that's the case, then she should treat them like entirely different people. She might never raise her voice to the other Sakura, but this one had publicly picked a fight with her, and the other hadn't seemed to take offense to their back-and-forth insults. So that left her free to act as she normally would, right?

Encouraging and careful with one, candid with the other… _If I hang out with these two long enough,_ Ino thinks wryly, _people will start to think I'm two people, too._

Refocusing on the Sakura before her, she's just in time to stare in wonder as the paper in Sakura's fingers begins to fall apart wetly. If Ino wasn't sure they were two different people before, she certainly is now.

"Cool!" Sakura grins at her. "Does this mean I can learn double the techniques? It's too bad I didn't get earth though, like Sakura. Water just seems a little, you know?" She flaps her hand. "Flimsy."

Ino, still holding the sopping chakra paper in her hand, gives it a pointed look. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ehhh, it's nothing against _you_ ," she clarifies, dropping the wet remnants. "It's just that water is like – you know, you swim _through_ it? Earth is solid."

"And that makes it better?" Ino raises an eyebrow. She wonders whether her irritation is justified or not and then decides that it doesn't matter because she _is_ irritated.

"Yep," Sakura shrugs. "I think so. I mean, I got water too, you know, and I don't dislike it. It's just – Earth's got more _strength_ behind it."

"Tell that to a tsunami," Ino scoffs.

"Why don't _you_ tell _that_ to an earthquake?"

"You know, the world is 75% water."

"Yeah, and land is the 25% that we choose to live on – I wonder why," Sakura replies sarcastically, and Ino is fully aware that this argument is nonsense, but this girl is so damn _insistent_ , and _stubborn,_ and… sort of a lot like Ino, though she'd never admit that.

"And what about the fact that the people on that land are made up mostly of water?"

"Tch. Whatever. I think you're just jealous."

"Jealous – I – what?" When had they stood up? Ino doesn't remember, but they're suddenly facing each other, leaning forward, hands on hips or else pointing accusing fingers. She brushes aside her forgetfulness to focus on the issue at hand: Sakura. "And what would I have to be jealous of?! We have the same affinity!"

"The fact that Sakura can control the earth under your feet! Even if _I_ can't do it, _she_ can, and solid ground is obviously the better advantage."

"You just like it better because it matches your gigantic hard-headed forehead!"

"Ha!" The syllable is obviously skeptical. "Well, I'd rather be hard-headed than pig-headed, pig!"

"I'd rather be pig-headed than redundant, Forehead!"

"My forehead is beautiful, damnit!"

"Not as beautiful as I am!"

"You might be right about that!"

"Yeah well I –" Ino stops abruptly, caught off guard. She expects to see a glimmer of humor or something in Sakura's eyes, but she's still holding that hostile expression, as if what she'd said fell perfectly in line with the argument and had been some kind of insult. One of her hands is clenched at her side, the other jabbing a finger in Ino's direction, and her brow remains furrowed angrily.

But Ino is pretty sure she heard correctly. She straightens her own aggressive posture, confused by the incongruous words and demeanor. "Did you just make a pass at me?"

Sakura likewise relaxes. "No," she shrugs. "I was just agreeing with you."

"…Why?" Ino says the word slowly, as if she's not sure she's chosen the right one.

"What? Are you just fishing for compliments or something?"

"What – no! But we were just in the middle of an argument!"

"So?" Sakura asks in a way that makes Ino think she's not being facetious, but rather, she genuinely doesn't seem to understand the issue here. "Do you want me to lie to you or something? You're a very beautiful girl," she repeats flatly. "I don't know why I'd disagree with you about it."

"But at the preliminaries, you -"

She waves a hand. "That's different. It was a match."

Ino opens her mouth to reply but chooses to delay her response in favor of more time to think, though in all honestly, she's mostly cycling through repetitions of "what the hell" in her mind. It's not like Sakura's logic doesn't make sense; honestly, it makes more sense than insulting each other for the sake of it, but her attitude in the heat of an argument is hardly effective in terms of inflicting damage to the supposed opponent – in this case, Ino.

Unless that hadn't been her intention. In fact, now that they've stopped yelling, there doesn't seem to be even the slightest hint of residual aggression in Sakura. She's just waiting for a reply, seeming somewhere between amused and restless, as if the whole thing never happened. She'd been more caught up in the bantering than in the actual content of it. And if that's the case, if she's just eager for competition, Ino can certainly provide it. It'll be easy. …Especially because Sakura has an impressive talent for pissing her off.

"I guess we'll just have to see, anyway," Ino flips her hair haughtily, "whose technique winds up being superior. I'll just prove exactly how powerful water can be, since you obviously won't be able to. "

"Is that a challenge?" Sakura's aggression revives instantly.

"Challenges are supposed to be hard, Sakura. This will be easy for me."

"Oh yeah?" She grins fiercely. "As I recall, we've already competed in the preliminaries, which, may I remind you, I had the pleasure of disqualifying you from."

Ino rolls her eyes. "Only because you caught me off guard."

"That's not an excuse! Would you be saying that if I'd stabbed you in the back instead?"

"No, because I would've never let you get behind me," Ino snaps.

"Oh yeah?! Well – wait a second," Sakura pauses mid-retort. "Aren't we supposed to be training?"

Oops. Ino looks around the empty training grounds, all of a sudden remembering that they had indeed come here with the goal of achieving something that has nothing to do with arguing over hypotheticals. The sun has lowered quite a bit from its highest point by now, but the shadows haven't grown long enough to warrant calling it an early day.

What to do now...?

With Kakashi unable to provide direction, and Asuma-sensei specializing in wind-based jutsu, Ino is rather at a loss. The only person who might be able to help Sakura at this point is Kurenai-sensei, but she's a rather tricky person to get a hold of being someone who, like Sakura, prefers to stay out of sight. It might take her a day or so to locate the woman. Even then, she's unsure whether the busy jounin would take the time to help them, for free, out of the kindness of her heart and for nothing more than that.

She can think of no proficient water or earth users in their roster of academy teachers other than Kakashi, either. The lack of options leaves her with only one, and it's not one she's particularly excited about.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asks, quickening her pace to walk alongside the suddenly downtrodden looking Ino as they head towards the training ground gates.

The blonde gives a weary sigh. "To the fountain of youth."

#

Sakura remembers Rock Lee from the academy, but she hadn't paid much attention to him. He'd been rather unapproachable with his constant training. The only interaction she had with him was when he challenged Sasuke, since Lee apparently has a habit of picking fights with prodigies, but that had been her only experience with him on a personal level. Her interactions with Gai are even more limited, only having passed him on the street a couple of times. It's not like she could've missed him.

Now that she's face-to-face with them, Sakura isn't sure what to make of either of them. In the first place, if they aren't exaggerating, she and Ino caught them during a fifteen-mile high-intensity-interval workout consisting of sprinting for fifty yards, doing forty pushups, then ten squats, then repeating. Which is absolutely inhuman. Sakura feels tired just standing here and watching them. They'd taken the interruption well, and after Ino explained their predicament, Gai began a series of flips and stunts with Lee that continued for five minutes and counting. Sakura is fairly sure she can't bend in even half those ways, or jump even a quarter as far, let alone create fake sunsets.

To be fair, she's not sure if that's intentional.

She's glad she decided to take the forefront of her body for this meeting, too, not that the other Sakura protested – her rather tactless self is well aware that she might not be the best at making first impressions, and indeed, she's currently spewing a series of confused epithets that alternate between insulting and complimentary. As strange as the sight is to behold, it's equally as impressive.

"Did you hear that, my dear student?! That such an opportunity has found us on this day has revived in me a youth I have not felt since five minutes ago!"

"Yes, sensei!" Lee somersaults behind Gai, spinning an incredible ten times before landing behind his teacher and striking a pose that makes him look somewhere between a super hero and an awkwardly shaped waterfowl.

"For my rival to leave his student in my care is surely an admission of my superiority!" Gai lifts a hand to punch the air, and Sakura and Ino share a look when the branches above him shift as if he'd physically touched them. "Fear not, you youthful maidens! I will train you better than my eternal rival, Kakashi, could ever dream of! His leaving you under my tutelage will be a gift for us both!"

 _More like he's just lazy_ , Ino thinks, and part of Sakura echoes that sentiment. Neither dares to correct him though.

Eventually, Gai and Lee both come to a stop arranged in some type of angular formation, staring expectantly at the two girls before them who are, understandably, at a loss for words.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei," Sakura finally says and tries to smile. Miraculously, Ino finds that two-days worth of encouragement has allowed her to do so at least a little bit. "I – we – um, we really appreciate you taking the time to help us."

"You have no need to worry! Lee and I have enough youth to go around the whole village, isn't that right, my star pupil?!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee's eyes seems to twinkle. Ino is vaguely horrified to realize that they're watering with prideful tears. It's because she's already staring in fascination at his odd physique and even weirder facial expressions that she does not miss the way his gaze strays to Sakura. She has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at that. This will be interesting.

"Now, ladies, I have a very important question for you." Gai relaxes his body from its stiff, cock-eyed pose, and steps towards them with Lee close enough to be his shadow. This time, though, his face is set in a rather serious expression. "I assume that you're here, like Lee, to train under me in the explosive and elegant art of taijutsu. Is that correct?"

Ino is about to break the bad news that, no, she's actually just here so that he can point them in another direction, but then she feels Sakura shift beside her, her eyes on her feet and a small frown on her face.

"I'm not great at taijutsu," she whispers. "I don't think I'd be a very good student, to be honest."

Gai gasps dramatically, Lee following suit a split-second later. "My dear, youthful flower! You must take back that statement! There is no such thing as being good or bad at something, isn't that right, Lee?!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!" Lee affirms enthusiastically. With an encouraging nod from Gai, he continues, "Talent is nothing in the face of hard work, and surely someone as beautiful and youthful as yourself, Sakura-san," he says, fighting through his blush, "will definitely become a worthwhile taijutsu expert in no time!"

Ino wishes she had popcorn. Watching Lee talk to Sakura, and Sakura trying to respond, is like watching two clumsy ten-year-olds trying to dance without touching each other.

"Ah, th – thank you, Lee-san," Sakura flushes from head to toe, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

 _He called us beautiful…_

( _That's because we are beautiful! I like this weird guy_ ), Sakura's inner voice states firmly. ( _We should definitely train with him_.)

 _But, you know I'm not very good at hand-to-hand combat…_

( _But you could be! Didn't you hear him? Besides, I totally kick butt at it!_ )

Ino nudges her gently. "What do you think?"

"What do you think?" Sakura repeats the question, uncertain tremors in her voice. Ino shrugs.

"These two are masters at it. It's not every day that you get an offer to train under a master of something."

"Ah, that – that is true, but…" she trails off. The way Ino phrased it makes her nervous. "You'll be here with me too, right?" She finishes, shyly keeping her eyes on the ground.

Ino doesn't need much time to think about the answer. Her declaration is true – it really is a rare opportunity to get such an offer, and in this case, she's only stumbled across it due to Kakashi's negligence. Besides, she can't find it in herself to simply leave Sakura with this odd pair. Especially considering Lee's obvious romantic interest. _The poor girl won't know what to do with herself without me_ , Ino thinks proudly. The first threads of protectiveness bind her to the thought. She lets them.

She thinks of Sakura, shy and invisible and scared and _alone_ , for her whole life, and knows that there is yet again only one right answer. This time, she chooses it.

"Of course," Ino puts a hand on her shoulder. The touch is gentle and slow like one might pet a frightened kitten. "If Gai-sensei is willing, then we'll both train under him."

A sound begins like the building steam in a kettle, and then Gai and Lee whoop and cheer, bounding around the small space like a pair of over caffeinated toddlers. As quickly as it had begun, Gai stops before them once again, his feet sticking solidly in the ground and his body perfectly still as if he hadn't just been throwing himself through the air in a series of astounding acrobatics.

"I see that youth is strong in you both! You will make excellent students!" He boasts, puffing his chest out, but then his tone takes on a more serious edge. Ino can see that, through his frivolous antics and seemingly thoughtless excitement, he's sizing them up, gauging their potential, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses in the span of a few seconds. As goofy as he is, she'd be a fool to underestimate his skills. "But, I must warn you. The training will be arduous. Are you prepared to put the whole of your selves on the line, body, soul, and mind?"

Sakura looks at Ino, who nods for the both of them.

"Are you sure?" Gai places a hand on each of their shoulders, looking down at them in his suddenly intimidating height. "Even your lives?"

"Our – what?" Ino gapes. "What do you mean?"

He hums thoughtfully, stroking his chin, and takes a step back. Lee stands attentively at his side, his face equally serious.

"I will give you girls your first lesson," Gai begins, his tone grave. "All skills in life require practice, but sometimes, natural talent and affinity can obscure gaps in experience. This is often the case for ninjutsu and those born with kekkai genkai. A shinobi who works equally hard, or even a bit harder, than a shinobi with something like a dojutsu," here he looks vaguely bitter, but only for an instant, "might still lose by virtue of that dojutsu's power."

"Right," Ino agrees, fully aware of the stories circulating about the powerful ocular jutsus.

"Or, to give you another example, it's the same way a shinobi with a natural affinity for fire jutsu might be able to learn a fire technique faster than one without that affinity, regardless of practice time. Of course, these disadvantages can be overcome with significant effort, but the fact is that they exist. Do you understand?"

Sakura and Ino both nod, their eyes sliding over to each other's unsurely. It feels to Sakura as if Gai is about to tell them that they'll likely never be as good as him or Lee, but then he smiles at them, and it's surprisingly gentle.

"That is not the case with taijutsu," he finishes firmly. "There are no kekkai genkai or ninjutsu that can copy it, and there is no technique that can sufficiently displace dedication in terms of one's personal growth in physical combat . Not even tricks such as the impressive punch you delivered in the preliminaries," here he gives Sakura a proud smile, glinting teeth and all, that she shrinks away from shyly, "will amount to much if you can't hit your opponent, or if your opponent strikes you first. The advantages and disadvantages of taijutsu come down to the user, and you must learn to hone your skills through practice. There are no exceptions or short cuts in this domain." All hints of his flamboyant personality are obscured in the solemnity of the moment. "You are as good as your effort. Nothing more, nothing less."

Lee nods behind him, and Gai falls silent, seemingly awaiting their answer.

Ino looks questioningly at Sakura. She's already resigned to do what Sakura wants to do, and despite Gai's intimidating words, Ino is no pushover. She has faith in her own abilities. Despite that she's never had a particular interest in hand-to-hand combat, there's always room for improvement, and there's no denying that it's a necessary and fundamental skill that can, in crucial moments, mean the difference between besting your opponent – or death. But at the end of the day, she's here for Sakura. What she decides is what they'll do.

"Well?" Ino prods. Sakura worries her lip and considers it.

 _It sounds really hard…_

( _Oh, don't give me that_ ), her inner voice gripes. ( _Despite all your doubts, look how much you've taught yourself. You're more determined than you give yourself credit for._ )

 _But I learned those things because we were supposed to learn them for class, so…_

( _And the genjutsu? The water walking? Tree climbing? Come on, Sakura,_ ) she sighs. ( _It will be hard, but think about it: when have you ever begun a project and not tackled it full-throttle? You've succeeded every time!_ )

Sakura squashes the cynical part of herself that wants to say it comes down to luck and having too much time on her hands, but her inner voice catches on anyway.

( _Nuh-uh. I know what you're thinking, and it's not an excuse. When have you ever gotten lucky at anything?_ )

Sakura's eyes slide over to Ino, who is still watching her patiently.

( _Okay, besides meeting Ino? Even your team placement sucked! You've worked hard and survived this long because of your effort – what Gai-sensei is demanding of you is exactly what you've already been doing!_ )

It's a good point. When it comes to enduring difficult things and taking a lot of shit, Sakura is more or less an expert. Only, this time, at least it might result in something positive… She can tell that the other half of her is eager to do this, too, and who is she to deny her that opportunity? Even if it is herself, technically, but still.

"I – um, both of me," she says, glancing at Ino for confirmation when Gai gives her an odd look, "would like to train with you."

"Both of you?" He repeats, squinting at her as if she might suddenly grow a second head. "Does this have something to do with what happened at the preliminaries?"

"Right." Sakura confirms but says nothing more.

Ino steps up then to fill him in on the situation. Gai listens patiently, nodding along, and then he turns to Lee with another sparkling grin. "Alright, Lee! It looks like we'll have _three_ youthful pupils joining us in our training! We will welcome them with open arms, won't we, my dear student?!"

"Of course, Gai-sense!" Lee agrees enthusiastically, his hands fisted at his sides.

"We'll begin immediately –"

"Um, actually, my parents need my help at home," Ino interrupts him.

"We'll begin tomorrow!" Gai continues as if she hadn't said anything at all. "The two – er, three – of you will meet me and Lee at training ground seven tomorrow, at five in the morning –"

"I have to open the shop tomorrow morning –"

"At seven in the morning –"

"That's still not quite enough time to –"

"At nine in the morning!"

He remains entirely unperturbed by the interruptions and adjustments. Gai's grin sparkles in the fading sunlight, and Ino at last nods, Sakura following suit.

"Excellent, my new students! Be prepared to bring all your youthful energy and vigor, for tomorrow, I will assess your skills so that you may begin the first day of the rest of your lives!" He turns to his student. "Lee! To make up for the time we have lost today, we will meet at four-thirty in the morning to perform double our usual drills!"

"Understood, Gai-sensei!" Lee shouts, and in a blur of speed and power, the two bound off into the distant sunset without another word, their matching green jumpsuits in view for only a minute more before they disappear around the bend almost a mile away.

Theatrics aside, the amount of ground they just covered is increidble. Ino glances at Sakura wearily. "I have a feeling this is going to be very painful. In a few ways."

"…Yeah," Sakura agrees, looking guilty. "I think you're right."

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	7. The Best Pig in Town

**A/N : **Thanks everyone! As an added note, I received a handful of curious PMs/comments about Inner Sakura, so I figured I'd give a quick explanation to hopefully clear things up: she's basically all of Sakura's repressed feelings, hopes, fears, dreams, ideals, thoughts, etc., over the past nine or so years of her life that she hasn't let herself experience.

Namely, her greatest fear is speaking her mind and acknowledging her own thoughts / pains. Inner Sakura was, in combination with Sakura's childhood "idealized self," created by the repression of those things. Hence why she's so volatile and honest about her feelings, even when they're offensive. :P (Which, though I could be mistaken, is actually sort-of-kind-of close to how she came to be in the canon anime – Sakura being afraid to speak her mind.) The shy Sakura, meanwhile, is based on how she'd been as a young child in canon. Since Ino never befriended her, and Sakura suffered so heavily because of that, the two Sakuras were pushed apart into extremes, and – ta da! You have this fic, haha.

Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't make that more obvious! I guess that's just evidence of my needing more practice – whoopsies – but I just wanted to clear that up so it doesn't seem like I'm coming totally out of left field here. :) Thanks again for everyone's honest feedback, and happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 6

"The Best Pig in Town"

...

Ino wakes at six in the morning and spends another fifteen minutes procrastinating in bed. It's too early to be awake, she thinks lazily, even as her brain is reminding her that she spent most of her academy days waking up this early, and those days have been most of the days in her life.

Somehow it seems like years since then, though. Ino turns over and throws her arm and leg over an extra pillow and cuddles it closer to her chest. This distortion of time is not a pleasant feeling. It doesn't seem to be passing quicker due to productivity, but rather from a lack of results, and it feels as if she hasn't done anything at all since graduating despite the treachery she encountered in the Forest of Death. She strongly suspects it has something to do with losing the preliminaries.

 _All for nothing_. Ino frowns and squeezes her eyes shut, inhaling deeply and forcing herself to relax. She turns onto her back and tries to meditate.

The first dozen times she'd tried to meditate had been pointless. Her father insisted she learn to do it, since meditation is one of the techniques the Yamanaka clan uses in order to fortify their senses of self, unifying mind, identity, and body, but in the beginning, she hadn't seen the point and lost her concentration. Sometimes she'd think about school, or friends, or later in life, her brain might decide to take a trip to fantasyland, which always proved to be embarrassing. Getting snapped out of an imaginary make-out session by your father's scolding can be rather scarring.

There seemed little use in the activity when Ino had, at a very young age, grasped on to her self-concept with both fists and never let go. She knows who she is and what she's made of, and she's never questioned that. It's why she's always been especially adept at the astral projection techniques of her clan – so much so that her father often hints she might one day grow up to lead it. So, sitting on her ass and thinking about herself for hours at a time? No, thank you. Ino might have more self-love than necessary, but that's taking it a bit far, even for her.

Because Ino isn't narcissistic, despite what some people might say. She's confident. She's candid, outgoing, competitive, compassionate, thoughtful and considerate…

Or so she'd thought.

"Damnit," she sighs, sitting up abruptly. She's wasted too much time in bed already trying this useless exercise. No matter what her father says about 'centering herself' and 'finding inner balance,' this type of thing just isn't for her. Ino brushes her teeth and throws on workout clothes under her work uniform before heading downstairs to open the flower shop.

She knows these steps like the back of her hand, and she smiles ruefully at her automatic actions. Ino is good at all things floral, and that, at least, is something she knows about herself despite all she's questioned in the past few days.

The water in the display arrangements is changed. The ribbons are restocked, the roses trimmed, the potted plants watered, and as she goes to flip the sign on the front door to _open_ , that's when Ino senses that she's not alone.

The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She turns to look around the shop, but everything looks in place, exactly as she'd left it last night except for what she'd just done this morning. Opening the door, she finds no one in sight. Nothing, in fact, except the usual bench, the "sale" sign, the cart across the street, Sakura, the –

" _Ohmyfuckinggod,_ " Ino leaps backwards into the store only to catch her ankle around the doorframe and fall flat on her butt. "Sakura! What the hell!"

Sakura stands with her hands over her mouth in a combination of shame, embarrassment, and worry. Walking around with her genjutsu up is so natural to her that she'd forgotten to dispel it until she'd gotten close enough to Ino to – well, scare the shit out of her. Then she'd winked into sight right in front of her face.

"I – I – I'm so sorry," she mumbles, reaching a hand down to help Ino up. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm really, really, really –"

Ino, now on her feet, holds up a hand. "It's okay. I just – what are you doing here?"

"I – oh." Sakura mutters something about cheesecake and wrenches, or so it sounds to Ino. Realizing the other girl can't hear her, she tries again, a bit louder this time. "I remembered you told Gai you had to open your shop, so I thought I'd… see if you… needed any help?"

Ino does not need any help. She's been opening this shop and serving customers since she'd turned eight-years-old, albeit with supervision, but even so, it's a simple and thoughtless task for her now. But refusing Sakura seems cruel when she came all the way out here just to ask her that.

 _She was probably lonely_.

"Sure, why don't you help me make some arrangements?" Ino gestures her in. "Although, you don't have to wake up so early on my account. We're not meeting Gai until nine, after all."

Sakura trails behind and stops in the middle of the store to await instruction. Unlike her other half, she'd rather walk behind Ino than next to her, Ino notices.

"It's okay. I usually wake up at five to train since – um, since there's no one there at that time, usually…"

Ino gives her a tight smile. "I see."

… _Why am I so annoyed?_ Ino pinches the inside of her arm behind the counter, trying to snap herself out of it. She bends down to grab the ribbon and a vase, and standing again, points Sakura to the single-stem selection on the right wall.

"Do you want to make one? You can choose any colors you like," she offers.

Sakura looks like she wants to say something, but she chokes down her words and eyes the colorful blooms like an awed child, from white to red to black and every shade in between. Red is quite obviously her favorite color though, as Ino has already noticed, and she chooses a large rose, holding it up to the light and smiling at the depth of color she finds. Leaning forward to examine the rest, she catches the wonderful smell of gardenia and purple-pink sweet pea, the eye-catching blue of a cluster of hydrangeas, the feathery texture of a tall stalk of lamb's ear, the –

Ino bites her tongue literally and figuratively. None of these things match in the slightest. It's like she's picking them at random, or choosing her favorites rather than the ones that compliment each other, which is probably exactly what she's doing. Her outfit is an eyesore of a reminder that she obviously has no ability to color coordinate. And that's in spite of their flower arrangement classes to boot, which Ino now remembers Sakura had failed spectacularly – her whole bouquets looked as if she'd run around a forest and merely seen what stuck to her clothes, and –

 _It's not her damn fault, and I shouldn't be such a bitch about it_ , Ino shoves her criticisms down fiercely. _How could she know any better when no one was around to teach her? Not even our sensei had been kind to her…_

And herein lies the problem. Silently, Ino takes a deep breath to douse the spark of irritation making her clench her teeth.

What kind of person, she asks herself for the umpteenth time in three days, would allow this girl to suffer so much without intervention? And for the sake of convenience, no less?

Not someone compassionate, and considerate, and thoughtful. Not Ino.

But she had. She'd done it without a second thought, and she'd done it for nine years.

The dawning comprehension that she might not be who she thought she was, the self-doubt slowly chipping at her identity, is a new and unwelcome experience for her. The frustration is like an itch she can't scratch, and the constant annoyance is making her irritable, and she's taking it out on Sakura for no reason, which is only making matters worse.

 _I'm not mad at her_ , Ino reminds herself resolutely, _I'm mad at me_.

Finished at last, Sakura approaches Ino with one of the most hideous flower arrangements ever created by anyone over the age of six-years-old in the history of the earth. Like a mother trying to teach her daughter not to touch herself in public, Ino prepares to address this situation very, _very_ tactfully.

"You picked beautiful flowers," Ino says honestly, because each blossom and stem on its own _is_ quite beautiful. It's just _together_ that they look like the excretion of some mystical animal. "What drew you to these in particular?"

Laying them out side-by-side rather compulsively, Sakura points at each one in turn.

"Roses are my favorite, they're – romantic? And complex – many layers, and, um… The gardenia and the sweet peas smell the best, I think, and I remember that hydrangea leaves can be used to make a tea, and it's an unusual color for a flower, so…" Sakura trails off, rubbing the lamb's ear between her fingers gently. "This one just feels nice."

Ino gestures at the last, a large, pristine yellow chrysanthemum, and here Sakura blushes profusely. "Ah, that one… reminded me of you," she admits. The tips of her ears are redder than the rose, and despite not wanting to embarrass the girl any further than she already is, Ino can't withhold an amused laugh.

"That's actually very sweet – sweeter than you know, I think," she says, mirth still laced in her voice. "Do you know what any of these flowers symbolize?"

Sakura shakes her head, too bashful to speak.

"This one," Ino holds up the rose, "is passion, or true love, though you have that covered already with the gardenias. Hydrangea and sweet pea historically mean gratitude, and the lamb's ear, support. The one you chose for me," Ino holds up the flower in question, "Actually means, 'precious one.'"

Sakura's eyes are wide in admiration. "You sure know a lot about this," she says, as if Ino had just explained some complicated theory of physical cosmology.

"It helps when your mother owns a flower shop," she brushes off the compliment. "And the bouquet – it's meaningful, and I think it suits you, but that being said," she smiles, making sure to let Sakura know that she's not upset, "It doesn't quite match."

"Ah…" Sakura's eyes drop, but only for a moment, and then she's peering at the flowers again. "How can you tell?"

 _She took that well,_ Ino thinks gratefully. _Good thing I was so careful._

Ino grabs the bouquet and replaces each one in their respective place along the wall, then steps back, waving a hand at the selection again.

"Okay, start with one again, and we'll go from there."

Sakura hesitates, but again drawn to red, she chooses a brightly colored carnation. From there, Ino guides her through the process of color matching that she'd once thought to be a natural inclination or instinct and is now thoroughly, absolutely sure that it's not.

It takes several tries to explain to Sakura the idea behind complimentary colors and sizes, that a bouquet isn't usually made from all flowers, but from other types of plants that help break up the brighter colors and accent the shape and structure.

"It's not about picking the ones you like best," Ino reminds her several times. "It's about picking the ones that go together."

Their endeavor is eventually successful. After nearly an hour, Sakura finishes a very respectable arrangement that Ino deems perfectly fit to sit in the front window of the flower shop.

The pride on Sakura's face could light up a room.

She looks like she's just won the highest possible military commendation – a feeling achieved simply by having her choice in flowers validated. The unadulterated joy in her expression is something that Ino can't remember seeing on anyone's face old enough to realize that the Tooth Fairy isn't real.

Unbidden, the thought floats through Ino's mind. _I'm sorry_ , she thinks, and the guilt is jarring, like waking from a falling dream.

"We should probably get going if we don't want to be late," she suggests. "I can hear my dad getting ready upstairs, so it should be safe to leave."

"Okay!" Sakura practically skips out the door.

Her good mood is enough to elevate Ino's as well, despite her rather somber thoughts, but after a few minutes of companionable silence, something occurs to Sakura.

"Say, um, Ino…"

"Hmm?"

"Everything you said about complimentary colors, and matching and all that?"

"Yeah?"

Sakura's face is very serious. "Does that mean my clothes don't match?"

"Eh heh, well…" It's hard not to laugh at how gravely Sakura is taking this news. "Not – not exactly," Ino admits. "But, you know, they're cute on you anyway."

And it's true. They're cute – just in the way that a puppy wearing a hat is cute, not in the way that, say, a girl in a skirt and heels is cute.

Ino clears her throat to stifle the giggles threatening to erupt at the thought. "If you'd like, maybe we can go shopping together sometime. I can help you pick another outfit."

Immediately, the spring in her step returns.

 _She's like a kid…_

"Okay!" Sakura agrees, all smiles once again.

#

When they arrive at the training grounds, they're just in time to catch the tail end of a spar between Lee and Gai.

Lee's fight against Musumi during the preliminaries had been an impressive display and exemplary of Gai's words. Odd tricks like being able to rubberize one's limbs, while useful, fall flat in the face of superior skill, which Lee had demonstrated by quickly pulverizing him, but even that doesn't hold a candle to his performance against Gai.

They move so quickly that neither Ino or Sakura can pinpoint their exact location for longer than it takes to blink. The crashing of their limbs is forceful enough to reverberate the air in a soundless vibration. If not for their odd battle cries, the spar would have sounded like the heavy thrum of a bass, and the fluidity if their movements is reminiscent of an intricate dance. It seems as if gravity doesn't touch them, and any solid objects – each other included – are nothing but vehicles and opportunities for enhanced movement.

"Lee!" Gai calls. "It seems that our new students have arrived!"

Lee turns to wave at them and promptly receives a kick to the ribs that sends him sprawling across the training grounds.

"You should not allow yourself to become distracted by such things, Lee! I was merely trying to trick you, and you got caught up in your excitement."

"Yes, Gai-sensei," Lee says through a mouthful of dirt. Gai, meanwhile, gives him a firm pat on the back and a thumbs-up.

"It's alright, my dear pupil. Your interest is merely a sign of your youth. I will forgive you this time."

Lee gives him a radiant smile that's made slightly less radiant by the blood staining part of his teeth. "Thank you, Gai-sensei!"

Another brief thumbs-up, and then Gai turns to Ino and Sakura, the former of which is standing slightly slack-jawed at the pair's behavior.

"Now then! We will begin immediately," he instructs. "As a warm-up, you will both start with a ten mile jog – that's six laps around the training grounds. Begin!"

Sakura and Ino stare at each other. Ten mile "warm up"?

Gai hums, nodding as if agreeing with their silent bewilderment, and for a moment there's the brief glimmer of hope hat he might realize the absurdity of his request.

"Lee! Since it's their first day, why don't you join them?"

…Or not.

"Yes, Gai-sensei! Sakura-san, Ino-san," he bows politely, "are you ready?"

After another hesitant glance at one another, Ino shrugs, and they both give an unsure,

"I guess?"

"I think so…"

Before Lee darts off at a speed faster than either girl can sprint. But, ten miles is ten miles, no matter how fast they run it, and the sooner they finish, the sooner they can move on to something else. They follow as quickly as they can.

#

The circumference of the training ground is an uneven mess of treacherous topography: jutting rocks, hidden crevices, tangled roots sprawled across the forest floor. By the third time, both girls have learned to avoid the obstacles, but that hardly makes the trek any easier – just less injurious. By the time they're finished, neither of them can take a breath without searing pain in her chest.

Ino collapses fully on the ground and tries to regain some sensation in her aching limbs. _I won't have to diet for a month after this._

Sakura somehow remains standing. Her jaw is clenched determinedly, and while Ino's knees had been shaking from the strain in her thighs, Sakura seems perfectly steady. She might've thought the other girl was showing off if she didn't know better, but she's too tired to think about the reasoning behind her apparently inhuman endurance.

None of it compares to Lee though. He's so unfazed it's like he hadn't even run it. But he had.

They know because he passed them six times before they'd even finished their second go around.

"Good work, my students!" Gai appears from seemingly nowhere. Lee salutes him and goes to stand by his side. "Your effort was exuberant indeed! As a reward, I will allow a ten-minute break for your recovery, and then we'll begin drills. Lee!"

"Yes, sensei?"

"In the meantime, shall we continue our spar?"

Lee jumps up, and the two are off, leaving Sakura and Ino to try very hard not to vomit in the grass. Sakura watches the two of them as they do a series of quick stretches before getting into a preparatory stance.

"How…" Ino gasps and tries not to give into the immediate urge to throw-up. "How are you still standing?"

Sakura merely shakes her head. Her lips are trembling and she bites them to cease the quiver. Only when Gai and Lee have begun to fight in earnest does she allow herself to sit down, and then she promptly rolls over and does exactly what Ino had been trying not to do – throws up.

"Are you okay?" Ino tries to get up to help her, but Sakura urgently waves a hand for her to lie back down.

"I'm fine," she says quickly, wiping her mouth. "It's nothing."

Ino isn't exactly convinced, but Sakura obviously wants her to drop it, so she does. They take tentative sips of water and try to cling onto the seconds as if they could slow down time by sheer willpower, but fifteen minutes is up all too soon.

"Are you ready for your next challenge?!" Gai grins down at them, and they nod, too exhausted to answer. "Excellent! I can feel your vigor coursing through my veins!" He clenches his fists, muscles straining with the force of his flexed fingers. Gai stands there for a moment, seemingly enraptured by whatever absurdly powerful emotion is overtaking him, and then he points a finger at Ino. "Ino! Why don't you take the lead?"

 _Are you sure I shouldn't just knock myself out and spare myself the pain?_

"Okay," Ino sighs. She stands and is pleased to find her extremities in mostly working order. "What exactly am I doing?"

"Sparring!"

"What." She looks between Gai and Lee and shakes her head with more of that supposed vigorous energy than she thought she had left. "I don't think I'm quite up to your level, Gai-sensei, or Lee's."

He puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder but leads her to the unobstructed portion of the training grounds anyway. "Of course not, my young disciple! Lee has trained for tens of thousands of hours to get where he is now, but winning is not the purpose of this exercise. He will be going easy on you in order to allow me to gauge your skills, strengths and weaknesses, and create a training regimen accordingly. Your only goal is to land a single, unblocked hit."

Ino has to wonder what "going easy" on her really means, considering what she's seen and the fact that striking him even once is going to be a challenging objective. Someone with such exaggerated skill will only be able to tone it down so much, right?

Well, no pain no gain, she thinks grimly, squaring her shoulders and matching Lee's formal bow. She might not have been very invested in this training before, but Sakura needs her here, she reminds herself adamantly, and if she has to be here, then she may as well give it her best shot. Besides, it's not as if Ino is a pushover – she wasn't the best kunoichi at the academy because she was the best looking, after all. (Although she was that too, of course.)

As it turns out, however, her best shot doesn't amount to much.

Lee's movements are reasonably tempered at first. She throws the first punch, which he easily blocks, countering with a sweeping kick that she steps back to avoid. He spins on his extended foot like his heel is an axle in the ground, though, surprising her, and she narrowly avoids getting viciously kicked in the ribs.

They maneuver through a series of simple moves, Ino figuring out quite quickly that blocking his strikes is a mistake – the force behind them could crack bone if he struck her at the right angle, and it's not a risk she wants to take. Parrying proves effective for his straight jabs, and she backbends out of an uppercut. Just when she thinks she's beginning to get into the rhythm of his movements enough to go on the offensive, he increases his speed.

Now, it's all she can do to keep from getting hit. She flails to dodge a right hook, stumbling slightly and walking straight into the knee he aims at her torso. It strikes her in the gut like a bowling ball and she doubles over, wheezing, and Lee's no-nonsense demeanor quickly dissolves.

"Ino-san! Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah," she squeaks, feeling much like a deflated balloon. "I'm just dandy."

Along with all of their other odd attributes and behaviors, Gai and Lee are both apparently immune to sarcasm as well, and Gai pats her on the back, nearly sending her toppling to her knees.

"You did well, my student! You move with a youthful grace. I can tell that you are very aware of your body's movements. But," Gai adds, helping her into an upright position and walking her out of the sparring area, "You're overly concerned with taking blows. The first thing we must do is work on proper blocking to circumvent this, and beyond that, strength training."

 _Of course I want to avoid getting hit,_ she gripes inwardly. _Not only does it hurt, but who wants to walk around covered in ugly bruises?!_

And what does he mean, "proper blocking"? She's fairly certain that'd been step one in taijutsu training at the academy…

At Ino's exhausted look, Gai for once smiles in a way that's less "youthful" and more gently sincere. "Do not be daunted. A lot of work is ahead of you, but at great reward. I believe your major advantage lies in your grace. Precision should come naturally to you, and we'll build on that strength."

"Right," Ino manages a weak smile, reminding herself over and over again that, despite the forthcoming pain and soreness, she's doing this for an important reason. Not to mention, training with these two is going to burn _so many calories_. "Thanks, Gai-sensei."

Remember that sincere smile? It's now twinkling with unnatural light. Ino somehow does not roll her eyes.

"Okay! My next student – Sakura, are you ready?"

She snaps to attention. "Um, yes, sensei. Is… are the rules the same?"

"That's correct, Sakura! Your goal is one unblocked blow. Begin when you're both ready."

"Well, actually…" she hesitates. Her eyes flit over to Ino, who quickly picks up on what she can't quite bring herself to say.

"Do you mind if the other Sakura goes first?" Ino asks for her. "I can only imagine that she's looking at this in a very… youthful way."

"You don't say?!" Gai shouts, immediately excited by Ino's phrasing. "That won't be a problem at all, will it, Lee?"

"No, Gai-sensei! I am ready when you are, Sakura-san, and though I do not wish to hurt you, for your sake, I will not go easy on you."

"Ah… thank you..."

 _She's getting much better at this_ , Ino notices. It only takes two minutes before Sakura's eyes open again. Her back straightens from its usual subdued stance, and she rolls her shoulders with a grimace.

"Good God, that was one hell of a warm-up," she grouses. "Who the heck knew that running could make your arms sore?"

Lee looks to Gai for guidance, and the older (but still youthful) man hums thoughtfully.

"Your posture has changed significantly."

"Yeah, Sakura's doesn't like to punch people. Me, on the other hand," Sakura grins confidently, lifting her hands in something akin to a boxer's stance. "I think it sounds like fun. Are you ready, Lee? I'm not going to hold back either."

But Lee and Gai are too busy watching her with wide, tearful eyes, their joy overflowing in thick rivulets down their faces. There is a gentle hum that begins in their throats that escalates slowly, tremulous and rising like the song of some tone-deaf bird, until finally it explodes from their mouth with a shout,

"So _youthful_!"

"Sakura-san! This version of yourself has instilled me with such unbridled passion! It is an honor to be your sparring partner on the spring of this day!"

"It's July…" Ino corrects quietly, fully knowing she'll be ignored and not really caring. At least she gets a free show with her break, she thinks sardonically.

"Two of my students, coming together in the springtime of youth! It's almost too much to bear! Are you ready, my dear pupils? On my mark – go!"

As much as Sakura respects the two taijutsu masters in front of her, she's fully perturbed by their displays of oblivious absurdity and had been about to say just that, but at Gai's call, she turns her attention back to Lee.

She leads with a kick at his side, which he easily parries with his arm, forcing her leg to the ground in an awkward stance. She pivots on her outstretched foot to avoid a punch to the face and leans back to dodge his follow up punch, falling back onto her hands and flipping to gain some distance.

In an instant he's on her again, sending a powerful kick out with his right leg. He puts enough force behind it to break her ribs, but he intentionally leaves his body open for an obvious dodge that he knows she'll take. He has only the briefest of moments to regret it when she does not, in fact, move, and then another split second to doubt his regret when she flashes him a rather victorious smile and catches his shin in her palm, the force of the kick dissipating completely as if he'd just stuck it out to tickle her with his foot.

"Surprise!" She laughs, wrapping both of her hands around his leg and spinning on her heel, sending him flying like a discus. He lands gracefully on his feet, sliding about a yard before coming to a stop.

"Very impressive, Sakura-san," he says, and his romantic affection is practically leaking again from his wide, spongy eyes –

 _I should have brought a snack_ , Ino thinks, thoroughly amused. And impressed. Whatever it is that this Sakura does to allow her such strength, it's much more powerful than the normal chakra enhanced kicks and punches they'd learned to do at the academy. But, as Gai already predicted, it's not enough to win her the fight – or the challenge.

When Lee comes back he is significantly faster, and although Sakura can withstand the force of his blows with her strange strength, it doesn't matter if she can't catch them all. Which she can't.

She goes down with an uppercut. Her teeth crash together noisily, though thankfully her tongue doesn't get caught between them.

"Damn, that hurts." She's rubbing her aching jaw, but there's still leftover excitement in her voice. She'd obviously enjoyed the fight. As Lee gets back into a fighting stance, however, she shakes her head. "It might be fun, but there's no way I can keep up with you, Lee – I gotta forfeit this one, unfortunately."

"It was an honor to spar with you, Sakura-san."

"It was indeed a good fight," Gai acknowledges. "Your power is impressive, though I have a feeling you don't know exactly where it comes from, but you rely too heavily on it. We'll have to work on your speed and counters to utilize it more appropriately."

"Sounds good to me!" Sakura agrees. She could've more or less guessed a critique like that would follow, considering her rather offensive approach. "Should I let Sakura try now?"

"Yes, Sakura! Let's let," Gai blinks thoughtfully for a moment, but continues, unfazed. "Let's let Sakura attempt now."

The switch again takes a mere two minutes. Sakura's hand drops from her injured chin to fall at her side.

Lee, catching on quickly, gets into his stance, but Sakura turns to Gai.

"Just to be sure, I'm sorry to ask again, but… you did say one strike, right? Is there – is there a time limit or anything, or any other rules…?"

"Just one strike, no time limit. The only rule is taijutsu only. Don't worry, Sakura," Gai smiles, guessing her hesitation is stemming from her clearly nervous personality. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Right…" she blushes at the vote of confidence and turns to face Lee, lifting her hands in preparation.

Ino tilts her head from her position cross-legged in the grass. Even the fighting stance looks unnatural to her – it's difficult to imagine Sakura brawling with anyone with the intention of hurting them. Even in their preliminary match, this Sakura hadn't so much as attempted to land a blow. Each offensive move had been at the control of the other one. It makes sense, she supposes, given her experience. Attempting to defend herself at the Academy would only infuriate her tormenters.

Sure enough, Sakura makes no move to hit Lee, though she does a good job of fluidly dodging his strikes. Her movements are coordinated and careful. Ino can't help but find it at odds with the rather panicked look in her eyes, but, either way, she manages to avoid getting hit right up until Lee kicks her in the thigh, dropping her like a rock.

"Oh! Sakura-san!" Lee bends to help her, clearly flustered. "I am sorry, I did not mean to put so much force into –"

She blinks up at him, her face expressionless. "It's okay, Lee-san, really. I'm fine."

She stands and resumes her position, and albeit a little hesitantly, Lee follows suit.

When they start once more, Lee has slowed down to his original pace, and once again, Sakura dodges each of his strikes. When he speeds up, however, he sends her flying with a punch to the gut.

"Sakura-san! Are you –"

"Fine," she says through a shaky breath. "It's nothing."

And then she gets up and does it again.

It's after the third time that Lee turns helplessly to Gai, as if begging him to call the match, but Gai's face is uncharacteristically serious when he shakes his head. Resignedly, and trusting his sensei above all else, Lee continues.

As much as he dislikes hurting her, he continues to do so at the urging of his beloved mentor, and each time, he can sense the impending impact like the second before it connects, but he doesn't dare let it show for fear of disrespecting Gai or Sakura. The fourth time he strikes her, she lands on her side from a hard blow to the ribs. The fifth time, on her back from a boot kick to the chest.

The sixth is going to be a right hook aimed at her cheek, and he can sense, as he had the other times, that she isn't going to be quick enough to dodge it, and he feels his fist hit the side of her face with a dull thud –

But this time, she doesn't go flying. Her right eye is squeezed shut from the pressure of his fist pushing her cheek up, and his knuckles are pressed so hard into the flesh that he can feel her teeth against them, and that is, in part, because she'd actually turned her head _into_ the strike, grounding her heels in the dirt and dispersing the force through her body.

And then, as if they were children on the playground, she gently taps him in the stomach.

There is a moment of stunned silence from the group. Lee's mouth drops open and he stands paralyzed in his astonishment for so long that she actually steps out of his fist against her face before he thinks to retract it.

Then, nervously, she turns to Gai.

His frown is deep and thoughtful and lasts a moment longer before he smiles, but Ino is no amateur at reading people, having been inside the heads of many. She sees the comprehension on Gai's face before he masks it with his usual exuberance.

Sakura is obviously used to taking punches.

"Well done, Sakura! I honestly wasn't expecting that outcome, but you've surprised me with your spirited determination!" He flashes her his trademark grin. Soon, Lee is bouncing beside him, looking equally as proud. "Your endurance is quite impressive, and I can see that you are skilled in dodging. I believe we can play on those strengths and leave your lack of aggression to be compensated for by your other self. What do you think?"

Sakura is absolutely beaming. "I think that's a good idea," she agrees.

Ino can only imagine that two compliments in one day has made this the best day of Sakura's life thus far, and it's at once heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Mercifully, Gai gives them two days to recover, and although Ino strongly suspects that they'll both be sore until they're twenty-five, she doesn't say so. Sakura is clearly enjoying the attention, the validation, and the training, and Ino is enjoying that Sakura is enjoying it. She supposes the opportunity to improve is nice, too, along with all of the new, sleek muscle tone she's going to get…

"I think I'm going to eat two dinners tonight," Ino jokes. "I'm pretty sure I lost five pounds in the past three hours."

"For real! You wanna hit up one of those all-you-can-eat barbecue joints? Lee gave us one hell of an ass-kicking and I hurt so bad it feels like my skin is just one big bruise."

Ino startles, realizing immediately that the Sakura walking beside her is not the Sakura that exited the training grounds with her.

"Why'd you guys switch, if you don't mind me asking? Not that I mind," she adds.

Sakura turns with her palms out and shrugs. "She passed out."

"She – what?"

"Taking all those hits left her totally worn down, and that last punch was a complete brain rattler – like I said, I hurt so bad I feel like bending my knees might break me in half."

Does that make sense? Ino wonders. Maybe…

She can control an unconscious person's body herself, after all, and the word is "unconscious." If someone has two "consciousses," then it might make sense that they'd have to be made doubly unconscious to be actually unconscious… is there a word for that? Unconsciousseseses…?

She dismisses the thought. There's a more pressing question in her mind, anyway.

"So, you're in a lot of pain?"

"Ooooh yeah," Sakura sighs, but even that seems to hurt, and she winces. "Like, _a lot_ a lot."

"Why didn't Sakura say anything about it, then? I mean, you guys have to be feeling the same amount of pain, right?"

"Yeah, I mean, we do, but Sakura thinks that –" she stops as if the words get snagged in her throat, blinks, and promptly changes her tune. "Well, nevermind. You can ask Sakura about it some other time if you want. But, barbecue?" She asks urgently, already tugging Ino along by the hand. Ino pulls back with equal pressure to turn them in another direction.

"I was actually planning on meeting my team for dinner, so why don't you just come along?"

"Mmm… I don't know… which restaurant are you going to?"

"Honey Pig. Why?"

"Ehh," Sakura grimaces. "That place is okay, I guess."

Ino scoffs. "What? They're the best in town!"

"Maybe if you like Konoha-ized barbecue, but the authentic stuff is from the smaller shops, like Kogiya or Yechon. They've got the real deal."

"I assure you," Ino says through gritted teeth. "I've been going to this restaurant since I was a kid, and they've got the best barbecue."

"Mm… I doubt that."

Ino throws her hands up. "Yes they do!"

"Oh, and I guess you would know," Sakura replies snarkily. "Being a pig and all, I'm sure you're an expert on barbecue."

"I do know quite a bit about barbecue, _Forehead_ , and I think you should trust me since you obviously haven't stored any domestic skills behind that wide brow of yours."

"I don't need to know how to cook to know how to eat, although I guess eating is your forte!"

Ino's aggravation swells despite knowing that Sakura is purposely provoking her, and she determinedly ignores the part of her brain reminding her that she'd been the first one to yell.

"As if! I could diet you under the table! And anyway, I'm telling you that they have the best pig in Konoha," she snaps. "That's why they're called _Honey Pig_."

"And _I'm_ telling you that you're wrong!"

"I am not wrong!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are!"

"No," Ino shouts. "I'm not! And how would you know anyway?!"

"Because!" Sakura throws her hands up and shouts back with matching volume. "I do!"

It takes Ino a second.

And then she sees the grin on Sakura's face. They've somehow managed to argue all the way to the restaurant. The people seated outside give them odd, prolonged glances that they both ignore.

Ino slaps a hand to her forehead and groans. "That's way too cheesy," she grumbles, but she's smiling anyway.

* * *

#

 _Flower meanings are from Wikipedia, if any of you are curious!_

 _Feedback? :)_


	8. Is There Such a Thing as Alone-er?

**A/N : **Thanks all! Happy reading :)

* * *

Chapter 7

"Is There Such a Thing as 'Alone-er'...?"

...

The first time Sakura has dinner with Team 10 is the first of many. They wordlessly decide to make it a habit.

They train with Gai four times a week for a few hours each day, and though their improvements are dramatically noticeable, each success and advancement is a badge hard-earned through blood and sweat. Ino is certain by this point that she'd been right in her initial assessment – they're both going to be sore until they're twenty-five-years-old. The training never gets any easier. Just as she gets used to one thing, or sufficiently masters a technique, Gai makes it ten times harder.

The second and third days are spent on body conditioning and form. Ino had been one-hundred-percent certain she'd known how to throw a proper punch and kick since the age of five-years-old, but after training with Gai, she discovers that there is a "right" and a "righter" way to do these things. As for the body conditioning… well, Ino has never really wanted a six-pack, but it appears that's out of her control now. Each day Gai increases the number of drills, the length of the runs, the sets of pushups. It's brutal and, somehow, wholly satisfying even as she and Sakura have to lean on each other in order to make it out of the training grounds.

The next two weeks are spent, oddly enough, getting pelted with fist-sized rubber balls. If it sounds like it hurts, that's because it does.

Ino, Gai had said, needs to learn proper blocking – how to handle impact in general, between parrying, deflecting, diffusing, and outright stopping force. Half the challenge is ingraining it into her reflexes, to be able to immediately decipher the direction of the force and the best method to counter it, as well as which parts of her body to use in order to maintain her defenses while leaving herself space (and a limb) to counter.

That's where the balls come in. For the second and third weeks of their training – that's fourteen days, Ino would like to emphasize – Lee pelts them with spheres of rubber at varying strengths and speeds, sometimes one ball at a time, sometimes five, and each time he empties the basket, she and Sakura go and collect them from all over the training ground. At first, they'd been at their leisure to do this – by the fourth day, Gai sets a time limit of ten minutes.

It goes something like this: "If you don't have all one-hundred-and-six balls by that time, you'll do two hundred pushups! And if you can't do two hundred pushups in ten minutes, you'll have until the end of the day to walk around the village twice on your hands!"

Both girls agree wholeheartedly that the first option is vastly preferable.

In Sakura's case, the shyer one merely has to dodge, which Ino stubbornly thinks is a lot less painful. Not that she succeeds every time, but at least her goal isn't to purposely come into contact with each pain-inflicting projectile. Gai warns her that she'll have to find her own way of fighting, however, if she isn't willing to put opponents down through physical means. Sakura promises that it's a weakness she will do her best to work around. It's not outright impossible, she figures, and especially not with her other half to help compensate. There are plenty of shinobi that don't specialize in offensive combat who do just fine on the field.

She looks to Ino for help on that one, and Ino smiles back reassuringly, but she hopes that if she has to find another teacher for Sakura, the next one will be a lot less ruthless.

The other Sakura, the one that actually likes to punch people, admittedly has the hardest time of it.

"You want me to catch them?" She repeats incredulously. " _All_ of them?"

"That is correct, my dear student! Once you three are able to complete your specified exercise without a single ball going astray, we will move on to the next portion of your basic training: you will rotate exercises."

Ino's jaw drops. "But what happened to building strengths and weaknesses?! What was the point in saying all that if we're just going to have to do all three anyway?!"

"In order to build something," Gai says sagely, "one must have a foundation upon which to build. We are smoothing over your weaknesses by reinforcing the fundamentals of taijutsu – from there, we will begin to hone your strengths."

And so it went. Their planned shopping trip wound up getting turned into a practical excursion to buy protective training gear. Both of them wisely opted for fingerless gloves. Sakura's palms were bruised a deep purple by the second day.

By the end of the third week, marking one month since their first day of training, and much to all three of their amazement, both Sakuras and Ino have managed to complete their task perfectly at least one time.

Now they just have to switch exercises and do it again.

The after practice dinners have thusly become a thing of necessity. Their grueling regimen leaves them starving for both comfort and nourishment, and though they can hardly afford to eat at Honey Pig four days a week, they find other foods through which to soothe their sorrows. At least once every few sessions, however, they meet Ino's team for barbecue. Sakura (both of them) enjoys the time immensely.

Thankfully, the rest of the team shares the sentiment. Or they at least remain neutral. They find it depends on which Sakura is present, and understandably so. Shikamaru makes the mistake of grumbling that the louder one is like having a second Ino around.

It's a mistake he only makes once.

Inwardly, though, he at first can't help but wonder if Ino's dedication to Sakura has a little bit to do with the fact that she may be, unintentionally or not, shaping that Sakura into a reflection of herself. Because Lord knows Ino loves her reflection.

He eventually dismisses the thought when Sakura makes a loud, innuendo laden remark that stills Asuma's hand halfway to the chopsticks and stops Chouji mid-chew and, most noticeably of all, makes Ino redden with anger and something else that is relieved through the swift punch to Sakura's head,

"I realize that I'm irresistibly beautiful," Ino chides and dusts her hands off as if they'd been sullied by Sakura's skull. "But don't be such a pervert!"

And then Sakura rubs the bruise forming on her head and insults her, and the fight starts all over again, and Shikamaru's suspicions are replaced by new ones that he won't voice for fear of his life.

The other Sakura, the quieter one, is an entirely different story. The first time she'd come to dinner, she hadn't said much of anything, just eaten and listened and thanked them for allowing her to join them. The second time, Chouji is lecturing Shikamaru on the proper way to eat his ban chan without obscuring the subtleties of the flavors through uncomplimentary combinations, and though Shikamaru sighs and listens boredly, it's Sakura that asks,

"If it's bad to mix the _danmuji_ with the _jangahjji_ , why is it alright to mix the _danmuji_ with the _kkakdugi_?"

Choji and Shikamaru both turn to look at her, a little startled to hear her speak. She shrinks back until Ino puts a hand on her arm under the table and gives both boys a very pointed look.

Kind as ever, Choji explains with a smile, "The difference is in the vinegar. The prominent flavors in the _danmuji_ and the _jangahjji_ is the acidic vinegar flavor, so mixing them together doesn't enhance either of them – instead, you wind up losing the subtleties in both. Because the _kkakdugi_ carries more of a sweet-tinged spiciness, it's easier to pair with more vinegary flavors."

"Ah, I see," Sakura peers into the banchan. "So then, if I mix these two…"

They carry on like that for the duration of the meal. Ino removes her hand at some point, earning only the briefest of glances from Sakura before she's drawn back into the conversation.

 _I knew you don't know anything about food_ , Ino thinks, but she doesn't say it because this is the wrong Sakura for that. But she still stores it in her head to gloat about later.

In terms of this one, she's just pleased to see the girl finally opening up a little bit, even if it is about something like their meal. It's an added benefit that Choji seems to be elated by the questions. It's not typical for either of his teammates to take an interest in culinary related things, and though Ino is pretty sure Sakura has a thirst for knowledge that extends far beyond what she's personally interested in, she won't be the first one to burst his bubble.

The normally shy boy is perfectly thrilled to share the information. The two of them speak with remarkable ease, considering both of their usually subdued natures, and Ino wonders if it has something to do with how they were both bullied, if maybe that created some kind of mutual understanding between them.

The third time this Sakura goes to dinner with them, Shikamaru and Asuma are talking about board games. Their scores are decidedly uneven in Shikamaru's favor. 25 to 0, in fact. Asuma suggests (read: begs) they try a different one for once.

"I don't know about chess," Shikamaru grumbles. "That sort of tactical thinking is such a pain."

"Sounds like something Sakura would know about," Ino offers offhandedly. She's not actually sure if that's true, but she'd be willing to bet that it is, and sure enough, Sakura is quickly stammering that she's not very good at either. Which doesn't mean much, coming from her. She could be a national grand master and still tell everyone she couldn't play well.

"Which do you prefer then, Sakura?" Asuma asks. She glances back and forth between him and Shikamaru as if she's being forced to pick who will live and who will die. She eventually chooses the diplomatic answer.

"I think… it's not a fair comparison," she admits, poking holes in her bowl of rice before noticing Choji's look and wordlessly handing it to him instead. "I appreciate Go for its underlying simplicity and that it's much more reflective of each player's skill than chess… but, on the other hand, it's kind of like war, isn't it?" She says tentatively, chancing a look at the two across the table from her.

"Go is entirely a long-run strategy game," she continues. "It relies on foresight and one's knowledge of the opponent's potential moves, like a military general controlling an army during a war, and Chess is almost entirely a tactical one. It's like the tag-team type of coordination that Shinobi use in individual battles, where the pieces have to work with each other's special abilities and sometimes react without knowing what's coming next.

But, you know," Sakura's eyes drift back down to the table. "I've never played either with anyone but Sakura, so I don't know if that's a fair assessment…"

There's a beat of silence and then Shikamaru shakes his head, which is made difficult because he's rudely resting his chin on the table. "No, you're completely right. I was just too lazy to say all that."

"Well, then," Asuma nudges him to sit up properly, "what's the harm in trying it?"

"Like I said, it doesn't suit me as much…"

They spend the rest of the meal discussing tactics. Shikamaru even invites her to play with him sometime, an offer that Sakura enthusiastically accepts, and with both boys' approval, Sakura finds herself a regular figure amongst Team 10.

They never ask her about her own team. She figures Ino probably filled them in about it.

Still, no matter how many games of Go she plays with Shikamaru, or how many dishes Choji teaches her to cook, or how many flower arrangements Ino guides her through, or how much training they endure together, Sakura is not part of Team 10.

She frequently wishes she could be. But she's not.

So, when Team 10 gets called to do a C-rank escort mission, Sakura, of course, can't go with them.

Shikamaru and Ino are tasked with restocking weaponry and picking up any necessary supplies before the trip. They meander through a scroll shop, sorting through the different kinds, each imprinted with ink or else blank and waiting to be filled with items or seals. Ino toys with a transport one, one of the most expensive kinds, and wishes she could buy one of the types that will simply seal all of her beauty products and toiletries inside. Sleeping in the woods might be a necessary part of shinobi life, but that doesn't mean she has to do it uncomfortably, does it…?

"Can you afford that?" Shikamaru asks skeptically. Ino sighs and replaces it on the shelf.

"No. It makes you wonder where Tenten got all of hers from, you know? Maybe she's got a special deal with someone around here…"

"Maybe," he shrugs. Something in the corner of the cramped shop seems to catch his eye. When he stays quiet for a moment too long, Ino looks away from the selection of explosive tags and raises an eyebrow. "Ino…"

"Yeah, I know," she sighs, picking up a pack of tags and a box of cheap pens for good measure. She'd learned long ago that writing implements are one of those things that are never around when you desperately need them – and you inevitably do at the most inconvenient of times. "Don't worry about it. Are you ready?"

Shikamaru nods. They pay with a couple of the bills Asuma left with them before heading to the weapons shop to restock kunai and shurikan. Their pace is slow as they meander down the dirt path through the Northern side of the village, and the early morning sun, just around six, is quickly dispelling the chill in the air. The warmth is lulling.

Ino stretches her hands over her head and feels every muscle in her upper body pull with the motion. Whatever happens on this mission, she has no doubt that it won't be as physically taxing as training with Gai. Honestly, this next week will be more like a vacation, camping or not, though there is a twinge of worry at the thought of having to leave Sakura behind. And speaking of which.

"How did you know, by the way?" Ino asks nonchalantly, her voice not betraying anything.

"We were the only ones in there. One of the books on the counter got moved," Shikamaru explains. "How did _you_ know?"

"Women's intuition."

He snorts at that, though honestly, Ino doesn't have much of a better explanation. At this point, it's more of a feeling than any tangible evidence she can name. She's learned to trust her gut for this matter in particular.

They fill their bags at the weapons shop, head over to the leather worker's to replace Shikamaru's ripped kunai holster, and stop at a supply store by the Eastern gate. They agree that Choji will buy too many chips, and they should probably use the leftover money from Asuma to buy real rations.

"You want me to get those diet ones for you?" Shikamaru asks with poorly contained condescension.

"You don't have to sound like such an ass about it!"

"Tch," he sighs. "Ino, what is the purpose of making soldier rations in diet form? The point of them is to restore your energy on long journeys or in dire circumstances."

"Yeah, well, not everyone needs the same amount of energy restored, alright?" She snaps, ignoring the obvious inefficiency of that logic in this context. "Besides, I don't need the diet ones anymore."

His hand stills over them and shifts to the right, grabbing the regular kind instead. "Did you finally realize that you're not overweight?"

Ino bristles. "I'm not an idiot, you know! I'm perfectly aware that I'm not overweight – in fact, I'm pretty damn sure my body is perfect, but perfection is difficult to _maintain_. Not that _you_ would know," she jabs a finger at him. "And for your information, training with Gai burns about a million calories a day. I could use the extra."

"I forgot," he admits, heading to the register and forking over the rest of their allotted cash. "How is that going, by the way?"

Ino is about to puff her chest out in pride but stops halfway when every intercostal muscle in her torso promptly begs her not to.

"…It's good," she says with much less enthusiasm than she'd originally intended. "He's a really dedicated teacher. We've improved a lot in the past month, although we haven't really practiced much actual fighting. And there's a lot of talk about youth. Can't forget that part."

He chuckles wryly. "No, you certainly can't."

They continue to trek towards the gate. It's a quiet morning. The only sounds are Shikamaru's intermittent yawning, their footsteps in the dirt, and the occasional conversing pedestrians strolling past them. The sun is still at an obtuse angle in the sky, but it's already hot enough that she'd be sweating if they walked any faster. So much for those early morning breezes cooling her down half-an-hour ago. Ino is not looking forward to the two day trek to meet their client, or the two day journey to get him to his destination, or the three day run back home…

Here would be a perfect time to borrow Shikamaru's catch phrase. It's not that she hates missions or being away from the village, necessarily, although she does miss the comforts of it. It's more that escort missions tend to be unanimously boring. They almost always turn out to be some overly paranoid bottom-rung diplomat whose only pursuers, if any, are the run-of-the-mill thug. Her biggest battle will probably be with her rapidly frizzing hair, not at all like the debacle of Sakura's last escort mission. Not that Ino would want to have been in her shoes.

She'd pick bored over near-dead any day.

"Did you get everything?" Asuma asks through an exhalation of smoke. Both of them nod, and Shikamaru nudges Choji from his half-asleep state leaning against the frame of the huge gate. They set off in silence. Choji's head nods intermittently as if he might collapse at any moment, and Shikamaru hardly looks much more alert than that. He does, however, glance over at Ino, who meets his curious stares with a shrug. They're a couple of miles from the village before they hit the western-facing tree road. Asuma waves in the direction of the forest when Ino holds up her hand.

Asuma, looking for any gap in the action to smoke, as usual, lights up a cigarette. "Something wrong, Ino?"

"Not exactly. Give me a minute," she says, back tracking down the path and stopping about fifteen yards away. She taps her foot, waiting. Nothing happens. "If you go any further, you'll be considered missing, you know."

Ino blinks, and Sakura stands before her as if she'd been there the whole time. Which she had.

"I know," she whispers, digging her toe into the packed dirt of the path. "But…"

She looks so helpless, Ino thinks with equal parts exasperation and sympathy. Sakura's eyes are wet with unshed tears. Her arms are pulled behind her back, one hand around her opposite wrist as if she's arresting herself, and she can't seem to finish her thought.

( _We could always go too, you know. Nobody but Ino would be able to tell. I bet no one would notice we were gone._ )

 _Gai and Lee would_.

( _Not enough to report us, right? And besides, it takes ten days to be marked as missing – we'd only be gone for a week._ )

 _No, we can't… we're not part of their team. They have a dynamic._

( _One that we fit into!_ )

 _It's not the same. We'd just get in the way._

( _Sakura –_ )

"We'll be back before you know it," Ino interrupts her thoughts, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving her best reassuring smile. "In the meantime, why don't you try and find a mentor for ninjutsu? That way, we can both start a new type of training when I get back."

"Do you promise?" Sakura blurts out, her composure rapidly deteriorating despite her best efforts. The tears are real and the panic is real and she can't clamp it down like she usually can, for some reason – maybe because this pain is new. Sakura has never had anyone to miss before.

"To train with you? Of course I –"

"No," she shakes her head adamantly. "That you'll come back. You have to promise you'll come back okay."

"Of course I will – _oof._ " Ino is forced to take a step back to keep her balance at the sudden force of Sakura's hug. Sakura's arms are wrapped around her tightly, pressing the sides of their faces together, and it's really far, far too close, uncomfortably so, but Ino slides her arms around Sakura anyway, ignoring the very amused looks on Asuma and Shikamaru's faces.

"You swear?" Sakura repeats, her voice thick with emotion. Ino valiantly fights the surge of blood to the surface of her skin that's threatening to reveal exactly how embarrassing this is. Sakura means well, after all. It's understandable that she'd be so worried to have her only close friend going out to potentially risk her life. Normally, Ino might've been boasting about having someone admire her so much, and proud to have a friend that cared about her so deeply. Normally, she'd be wrapping herself in bravado and explaining that her superior skills would never let her die so easily.

But Sakura is much, much too sincere for such a display, or for Ino to reply with a sentiment as shallow as pride. Something that superficial in response to her worry might seriously hurt her feelings, and yet, Ino finds that requisitioning the appropriate amount of emotion to display is actually quite a difficult task.

Difficult. For Ino Yamanaka. To find something to say.

What?

"It's okay, Sakura, I swear I'll come back," Ino eventually replies in a tone that is steamrolled smooth by her pure determination not to embarrass herself or Sakura any further. She leans out of the hug and smiles, a wide, confident grin. "You're worrying over nothing. I'll see you in a week, okay?"

Something in Sakura's expression shifts at her words, but Ino can't place it, and she doesn't ask. Her team is late already.

"Okay," Sakura whispers. She watches Ino and her team disappear into the forest.

Nobody says a word about it. Shikamaru carefully hides his thoughts, but he can tell that Asuma is laughing about something. Choji, of course, is too genuine of a person to take their actions at anything but face value, and although Shikamaru is sure he himself is jumping to conclusions – there are many explanations, and the human brain has a tendency to drift towards the simplest ones, which he's fairly sure he's guilty of doing in this case – he can't help but think that any onlookers would have thought that Ino had been leaving her dear wife to go fight in some grim-looking war –

"Shit, Ino, what the hell?" Shikamaru protests loudly. He rubs a hand over the new bump on his head. "What was that for?"

"You know what."

"But I didn't even say anything –"

"Don't you bullshit me, Shikamaru Nara!" Ino growls like a tigress protecting her territory, all fire and warning and _don't fuck with me_. "I know what you were thinking, and if I catch that look on your face again, _you're_ going to be the one who isn't making it back."

"Tch. Whatever."

Of course he keeps his mouth shut. He has no desire to pick a fight with anyone, least of all someone as loud-mouthed and stubborn as Ino.

…He's certainly not going to tell her that her defensiveness is just feeding his suspicions.

#

When Sakura gets back to the village, it's nearly eight in the morning. The streets are three times as busy as when she left. More people are heading to work. The majority of shops are now open, the smell of breakfast and breads and pastries is thick in the air, and mothers and children stroll between stands in search of food and supplies. In the short amount of time it'd taken Sakura to walk a few miles and say goodbye, the village had burst to life with people. Short people, tall people, ugly, beautiful, shinobi, civilian…

Hundreds of people in the market square.

Sakura doesn't care about a single one of them.

She cloaks herself in illusion and apathetically watches the faces of these strangers pass her by. Like their appearances, the expressions they wear are all different, happy or sad, stressed or frustrated or tired… They flow around her like a heavy current. She feels the rustle of air as they breeze by obliviously, dozens and dozens of them, and feels utterly, terribly alone.

She hates that being around Ino made her forget what this feels like. It hurts more for that now.

More than that, she hates that Ino told her she's worrying over nothing.

To worry over nothing makes Sakura feel stupid for being concerned for Ino's safety, and for the trepidation when she thinks about how far apart they'll be from each other, and dumb for the agony that rips through her at the thought she might not come back. It makes her feel stupid for caring, and like she shouldn't, but for once, Sakura is absolutely, unquestionably sure that Ino is wrong. Ino is not nothing.

Sakura's heart aches.

She treks to training ground three with leaden steps.

#

At least, Sakura thinks, there's Lee and Gai. Here are two people that she can say she respects, despite that she doesn't know Lee very well, and Gai is akin to a crazy yet reliable uncle more than a friend. But it's nice to not be completely alone. Even if it's just for a little while. Even just to train.

It's harder to concentrate without Ino around. Sakura manages somehow. Ino _had_ requested that she continue training, after all, and so that's what she'll do. Her other half takes it harder than she does. Without Ino there, they can't rag on each other and feed on one another's competitiveness, but her frustration at the loss winds up fueling her aggression anyway.

They're still not quite good enough, though. Sakura successfully repeats the dodging exercise but fails the catching one, snatching twenty-five of the sixty balls out of the air. Her other half catches them all and dodges only half. It's all around better than their initial attempts a month ago, however, even though they're doing different exercises. It's nice to know that they're improving despite the failures. Gai claims this is due to a force he predictably calls, "youthfulness."

"It is, in short," he explains, "a vigilant perception of the world around you. It's the unceasing, constant determination to be your best, most exuberant self that allows you to never be caught off guard."

He finishes this with a wink and a smile. Surprisingly, Sakura can sort of feel what he's talking about. (Although she attributes it to increased peripheral vision, response time, and visual tracking, but she doesn't tell him that. Gai is leagues better than her, so as absurd as it is, some part of her almost believes this "youth" thing.)

He cuts the exercise short an hour early, much to her surprise. Sakura – the punchy one – stops to give him her full attention, though she's bent at an awkward arc with one hand on the ground and the other in mid-air. He'd stopped their practice mid-dodge.

"What's up, Gai-sensei?"

"You have improved much, my dear student," he declares with a thumbs-up. "And with you and Lee's final round coming up in a mere month, I've decided it's time to add another level to your training."

( _More?!_ ) But Sakura outwardly gives no sign of her dread. She rights herself and tries to stretch the kink out of her side. "What did you have in mind?"

"I think it's about time you learned to control that strength of yours."

"Really?!" Sakura is immediately all ears, and somewhere in the background, Lee clutches at his heart in the throes of joy at her youthfulness.

"Yes! Have a seat, Sakura." Gai gestures at the grassy spot in front of him. "My eternal rival Kakashi," he says, as if the name needs the preface each and every time, "told me that you have extraordinary chakra control, and it seems that, combined with your energetic vitality, you have instinctually learned to use it to some degree."

"But…?"

"But you don't know how it works."

"I do," Sakura counters. "At least theoretically."

"But not how to apply it."

"But I _already_ apply it, don't I?"

Gai smiles, a mysterious chuckle building in his diaphragm. "Oh, my dear pupil… you have much to learn."

Sakura doesn't look impressed by his crypticness. He clears his throat and continues, "Chakra aided movement, as you know, is not uncommon amongst shinobi. All of us learn to do it in some form or another; however, I'm sure you've noticed that yours is a bit more extreme than usual. That is because the technique you've instinctively learned to use is not really a way of supporting a movement, like when we shinobi channel chakra to our legs in order to help us run faster. Rather, what you're doing is a matter of precise _timing_."

"Timing?" Sakura repeats. "But I don't feel like I'm timing anything…"

"Mmm," Gai nods, his eyes closed thoughtfully. "The timing, I believe, was luck. You probably did it the first time in a burst of intense emotion, as the chakra release must be a fraction of a fraction of a second before impact, when one's emotions might be highest –" here, Sakura remembers her superhuman leap in the Forest of Death and shudders – "and from there, you internalized it as muscle memory."

That makes sense, Sakura thinks, trying to imagine doing that on purpose. If Gai is talking in fractions of fractions, it's unlikely that she'd be able to perfect the technique without a lot of training.

"Okay, but that being said," Sakura says slowly. "If I'm already doing it, why are you going to train me in it some more?"

Gai shakes his head. "I'm not. Or rather, I can't."

"You can't?"

"No. The technique demands such exactness and involves disruption of air on a molecular level – I can handle currents, but something on that scale of precision is beyond me. In fact, there are only two reasons I'm telling you all of this. The first is that I want you to know the potential of your talent."

There is something like giddiness bubbling in Sakura's chest. "Potential?"

"Yes. The other known user of this technique is said to be able to split the earth with a tap of her foot and to crumble cliff sides with a flick of her finger."

"No way," Sakura breathes, looking down at her hands disbelievingly. "I could do that?"

"If you learned that level of control, yes, but," Gai frowns, considering his words, "the other reason I'm telling you all of this is because there is someone who can teach you – the last known user of chakra-enhanced strength. But I doubt you could find her without a long and arduous search."

( _Is he really going to make me ask?!_ )

Beside them, Lee finishes his two-hundredth pushup and flips over abruptly to do crunches. There are no sounds but for the occasional grunt and the chirping of birds to disrupt the sweltering air.

… _Yeah, I think he is_.

( _…So dramatic_.)

"Who is it?"

Gai takes a deep breath through his nose. "Tsunade-hime, the legendary sannin."

"Tsunade-hime?" Sakura's brow furrows as she rifles through her encyclopedia of stored knowledge. "I thought she was a medic-nin?"

"She is. Actually, the enhanced strength is built off of a medical technique."

"Oh…"

Sakura commits the new information to memory, trying to extract the useful parts to keep at the forefront of her mind. Is Gai telling her this so that she can eventually go and find Tsunade? But that doesn't seem right – Tsunade has been missing for decades, hasn't she? Besides, undertaking such a huge search would be impossible, and dangerous, on her own…

Still, the thought itches. If Sakura _could_ find her, then…

"Enough of that!" Gai announces with a shout, startling Sakura to her feet. "You can keep all that in mind for later – for now, as I said, the final exams are coming up and it is time, my dear pupil, to teach you some counters!"

"What – but – but – wait a minute!" Sakura stutters. "Don't tell me all that was totally unrelated?!"

Gai laughs heartily. "Not at all! You will be using your strength for these special counters. I thought it would be wise for you to know more about it. Now, let's begin…!"

* * *

#

 _I made up all that food stuff, by the way. Please eat your banchan however you like, haha._

 _Feedback? :)_


	9. Grandmother's Kitten

**A/N : **Did I go on a writing binge last night?! Why, yes, I certainly did. I'm happy to be at the point where Ino is finally, fully co-starring, haha. Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 8

"Grandmother's Kitten"

...

It's been three nights since Ino left. Sakura knows because she's been counting. If she had the presence of mind to do so, she would've counted the hours and minutes, too. Without her best friend, life has reverted into much the same as it had been before Ino. Worse, in some ways, better in others.

Outside the reach of academy bullies now, Sakura does not find herself at the mercy of predatory classmates. She doesn't run into anyone that might seek to harm her, even without her genjutsu. In fact, Sakura, when she isn't training with Gai and Lee, has no one to interact with at all.

Lee seems to have caught on to this, finally; or perhaps it's just now, without Ino around, that he has the motivation to offer his company. Sakura dismisses his worry the first time he brings it up. She assures him that her absent-mindedness is unimportant, but her other self is less opposed to admitting that she's "bored," as she puts it. Sakura wouldn't call it boredom, though. She'd call it loneliness. Emptiness. Nothingness.

So she's partly glad that her other half accepted Lee's invitation to lunch, even if she doesn't admit it. He makes good company. She finds out that, despite his odd quirks and strange mannerisms and obsessions with his mentor, Lee is unwaveringly kind. He's determined and ambitious to an extreme, and when he talks about his desire to one day beat Neji, Sakura smiles and tells him sincerely that she believes he can do it.

There is no doubt in her mind that someone like Lee could one day become a legend. If anybody deserves it, if anybody works hard enough to attain such a title, it's Lee.

When they've finished eating, they chat idly about their training, ignoring the stares of passerby that he undoubtedly notices. People have grown more accustomed to the sight of Sakura nowadays, since Ino brought her out of her invisible isolation, but Lee garners some looks of his own no matter where he goes, too. It's funny that they're both infamously unpopular in their own ways, and the understanding of that forms an easy camaraderie, Sakura finds – one that makes her smile even through her constant worry over her missing friend.

"You do not give yourself enough credit, Sakura," Lee tells her as they wander through the sprawling park, past the wilting pansies and the long stalks of daffodils. "You have become quite good at that counter after only three days. If Gai had not stopped you to correct your technique, you might have broken my leg in that hold."

It's odd to be given a compliment about the efficiency of her violence, but Sakura blushes anyway. "You would have moved, I'm sure, but thank you, Lee. Although, I should remind you that it wasn't really _me_ …"

"Oh! I apologize, Sakura-san! I forget sometimes, although I do still think you do not give yourself enough credit. You have improved drastically since the first day of training – both of you," he amends, giving her a dazzling smile.

 _He's so sweet_ , Sakura thinks, having to avert her eyes from his blinding grin, though not so much from the impossible whiteness of his teeth as from her own bashfulness. She watches the thick, fuzzy body of a bumblebee clamber over a bed of lavender.

( _Yeah, really, the guy is a sweet talker, even if he is weird looking._ )

 _Sakura!_ She chides. _You shouldn't say that._

( _I'm just saying…_ )

Well, to be fair, it is true. Lee is an odd looking fellow, but Sakura isn't one to dwell on appearances. She's much more impressed with Lee's personality than perturbed by his strange features.

"Sakura-san, if I may ask you…"

Sakura promptly squashes her less flattering thoughts to meet his serious stare. In the back of her mind, she realizes they've made a full circle and wound up back at the archway marking the entrance to the park.

"Yes?"

"I do not mean to disrespect you, Sakura-san, but… in the final round," Lee begins, uncharacteristically nervous. "Although your other self will do well in combat, and I have full faith in your abilities, I am worried that… well, I am not sure how to…"

Sakura smiles, perhaps a little sadly. "I understand. I'm worried about that too."

"Ah, I see," he relaxes immediately, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Do you have a plan?"

She almost makes a joke about him trying to gain the upper hand in case they have to fight, but she's not quite brave enough to do so yet. She answers honestly.

"Not really. I think I'm just going to let her fight."

Lee frowns and begins to pace. She allows him time to think but begins sidling out towards the main street. The sun is getting lower in the sky now, and she should probably get home to keep up on the meditation training Ino recommended. They travel in silence, Lee's mouth still tugged downward, his brow furrowed in thoughtfulness. They make it nearly back to Sakura's house before he speaks again.

"I do not think that would be wise," he says at last, and Sakura gives him a questioning look, encouraging him to continue. "I think to use one part of yourself is to intentionally handicap your strengths. You both have a set of skills that are useful in battle. If you could find a way to increase your offensive capabilities, and perhaps decrease the time of the switch, I believe that your combat strength would increase fourfold."

"Do you really think so?" Sakura asks skeptically.

"I do."

"But…" she sighs, shifting her weight nervously. "I don't know how to do that. Even if I could learn to switch with her fast enough to be useful in a fight, _I_ can't do very much, and I don't have anyone to teach me. Especially not with only a few weeks left…"

"What about Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura grimaces. She'd been hoping he didn't ask, but it's the natural conclusion to come to, she supposes. But what is she supposed to say? The truth is that she doesn't know what Kakashi is doing, or even where he is, let alone whether or not he might deign to take an interest in training her. She'd assume that, like passing Naruto off to Ebisu, his letter to go to Gai had been his way of saying, "I'm too busy for you."

Only, at least he'd actually left Naruto with some sense of direction. He'd just plain left her behind. She wonders if his apology at the hospital had been completely empty and decides that there is a very simple, plausible explanation.

"Kakashi-sensei… he… he doesn't seem to like me much."

Lee explodes.

Or it's as close to exploding as a person can get. His jaw drops and his already wide eyes expand even further, comically so, as he flails his hands in the air and then proceeds to jump around in blindingly fast circles before stopping in front of her with one finger pointed at her face and an inch from her nose.

"That is impossible!" Lee declares, his passion overflowing from his eyes. "You are wonderful, Sakura-san! Any teacher would be happy to have you as a student! Surely, there must be another explanation!"

Sakura shakes her head sadly. "It's either that, or he doesn't have faith in my abilities. He left me to train Sasuke on his own – he didn't even tell me what to do."

Lee makes a few more outraged motions. His mouth flaps in a series of exasperated and disbelieving noises, and then in the speed characteristic of Lee, he stops all at once. The side of his hand is pressed to his forehead in a determined salute.

"I understand, Sakura-san. I hope that you will not admonish me for my actions." Before she can ask, he continues, "I shall see you at practice on Thursday!"

And then he disappears.

Sakura stares at the space where he'd been standing for another half-minute before going inside and heading for her bedroom.

 _So, when he said he understood, what did that mean?_

( _Hell if I know._ )

 _Yeah… I'm sure we'll find out_.

#

In the landscape of her mind, Inner Sakura has done them both the favor of redecorating. It's still the beautiful field of flowers, only now she finds that the blooms coordinate in a way that she hopes would make Ino proud. A small river splits a diagonal line through the meadow, flowing at a lazy pace over flat rocks and boulders. There is a house in the periphery, a split-level made of aged wood and glass with all the usual comforts in it, plus some extra, rather questionable things that Inner Sakura has stored for her entertainment.

Sakura was surprised to find that some of those comforts were things that she herself disliked. It seemed odd that they would have such drastically different interests in some regards, but after pointing this out, her inner self responded mischievously, "We don't."

She insisted that Sakura did not dislike her more… risqué entertainment. She merely wouldn't admit to liking it. Sakura had promptly changed the topic.

Their oddly asynchronous gate still stands in the center of the area, built atop a circle of flat, grassless dirt, and it's here that she and Inner Sakura stand, eyeing each other from opposite sides of the line.

Sakura has by now gotten used to the projection of her inner self as a more, er, voluptuous woman, though she does wonder what the result of their eventual shopping trip with Ino will be. They do have the share the same body, after all. Picking clothes might be doubly hard.

For now, though, there are more important things at hand.

( _Ready when you are!_ )

In her corporeal body, Sakura opens her eyes to the walls of her bedroom. At her feet is a small rubber ball, which she holds at head level above her wooden floor.

 _Okay… go_.

Sakura drops the ball.

Inside her mind, she and Inner Sakura promptly switch places. Inner Sakura opens her eyes to find that the ball has bounced twice. She catches it, positions it above the floor, and drops it again.

( _So, what are we going to do about the final round?_ )

 _I don't know._ Sakura momentarily loses her concentration but snaps it back quickly. _If we can't find someone to teach me some offensive techniques, I think it would be best to let you fight alone._

( _Hmm_ … _I don't know about that. I think Lee was right._ )

The ball bounces three times before Inner Sakura catches it, and she frowns.

( _I think we should pump you up with some techniques. Or, at the very least, if we can figure out this switching stuff, your invisibility and my taijutsu would be a killer combo, tactically speaking_.)

 _I know you're right, it's just that –_

Where is the line again?

Sakura's concentration breaks once more, this time causing the image in her mind to waver unsteadily. The gate warps as if it's partly disappeared into a seam splitting the air beside it. She grits her teeth and breathes deeply, re-visualizing it into place. When she crosses over and Inner Sakura opens her eyes, the ball has rolled under the bed.

( _Damn_.)

 _I'm sorry_ , Sakura sighs, rubbing her eyes tiredly, but Inner Sakura waves a dismissive hand.

( _It's not your fault. You're the one who has to keep the image stable – your job is much harder than mine._ )

 _I just wish there was a way we could both control our body at once…_

( _I mean…_ ) Inner Sakura eyes the width of the gate. ( _We could try it. If we're both centered, that means we don't have to switch, right? And if we don't have to switch, then you don't have to keep visualizing the gate_.)

It sounds almost too simple. Inner Sakura seems determined to at least try it, though, so they both take a seat on the centerline of the gate, back to back, with one foot pushed against the frame to keep them stable. They open their eyes.

For a moment, they are perfectly still.

 _Can… can you move?_

Sakura watches in astonishment as her right arm lifts straight out in front of her.

( _Can you?_ )

The left arm follows suit.

( _Woah! This is so cool! Like this we could totally -_ )

"Gah!" Sakura's body jerks forward, then backward, one leg reaching out to catch her and the other trying to do the same, sending her stumbling towards her bedroom door in her momentum. Her knees are as wobbly and unsure as a newborn fawns as she discovers the acutely uncomfortable and odd sensation of having her body respond to only half her commands, and badly at that. Conscious effort aside, it seems that even their reflexes are counterintuitive.

Just as she's about to hit the door, her arm shoots out to stop herself, but her leg juts out in a kick to open it instead, but then her other leg tries to dig its foot into the ground, but the knee is bent in an attempt to jump, and as she trips from the awkward movement, she tries to duck her head to avoid a blow to the face but also tries to turn her body to let her shoulder take the hit instead, winding up just smacking her temple against the doorframe and –

And Sakura barrels through her now broken door.

"Sakura?! Are you alright?" Her mother calls from the kitchen. Sakura winces at the splinters all over the hallway floor.

"Yeah…! I'm fine!"

( _Shit._ )

… _Maybe we should stick to switching for now_.

( _Agreed_.)

#

Miles and miles away, midway between Tanzaku Quarters and Tanigakure, Ino is suffering from a case of the "I-have-a-bad-feeling-but-I-don't-know-why"s.

They'd met their client, a stout man who looks a couple of decades past his prime and who had, if his condescending and occasionally lecherous looks at Ino didn't make him bad enough already, introduced himself as "Akihiro-sama."

" _Lord" my ass_ , Ino thought immediately. As she'd suspected, the guy is a nobody low-rung politician, more of a town mascot than anyone with any influence or power, in her opinion, and Shikamaru seemed to make the same unflattering judgment. Akihiro has obviously been suffering from delusions of grandeur beyond your average delusional wannabe, too. He seems to think that he deserves the company of four jounin level shinobi. He protested rather loudly about the fact that he'd been the one to pay the contract for the "legendary Ino-Shika-Cho, so how'd I get stuck babysitting _you_ brats?"

Ino does not tell him that she could kill him in two-dozen different ways before he could raise a hand to defend himself. She wants to, though. In fact, she'll probably have to ask the hokage to avoid sending her on these missions when she's a chuunin, because as much as Ino is a wonderful liar, this is less a test of manipulating information and more a test of _patience_ , which Ino does not have a great deal of.

As they travel down the narrow path leading from Tanzaku to Tanigakure, the air grows increasingly misty as they descend into the valleys defining the Land of Rivers. Meager sunlight refracts off the water in the air and pierces through with only the faintest glows. Ino reassures herself that the rising temperature will hopefully help to dissipate the fog in a couple of hours as the time nears noon, but in the meanwhile, she can't seem to shake the uneasiness in her gut.

It's at least reassuring that her teammates don't appear to be concerned. Asuma is as relaxed as ever, and surely if there were something wrong, he would notice. Just in case, Ino extends her senses, trying to feel for another presence. She senses no one and attempts to brush off the odd feeling unsettling her. Is it possible she's just being paranoid? But the back of her head is itchy, like there's a thought trying to form that won't come, and something in her brain is warning her like the tinkle of the bell over the door of her mother's flower shop, _someone's here_.

But there's no one.

 _But something is off_ , insists the feeling. What is it about this place that has her so on edge?

Akihiro's backstory had checked out for his contract. There really would be no reason why he'd have anyone trying to assassinate him. There's always the possibility of bandits on the road, but bandits are hardly known for their stealth. If they were going to be attacked by average robbers, it would have happened already without all the suspense, right?

So what is it then?

Ino does not like that all of her thoughts are taking question form. It means that she has a weak grasp on the possible outcomes of this scenario, and it's only making her more nervous. She wonders if she should ask Asuma, but if there were anyone here, then Asuma would know, and if he hasn't said anything about it, it's probably for a reason. Shikamaru likewise does not look alerted. But, then again, if he noticed something, he'd probably have the same thought and not mention it either. Choji is… well, Choji.

 _Why am I doubting myself so much?_ Ino thinks suddenly. She's hardly unskilled. If her instincts are telling her that something is wrong, then something is wrong. It's true there might be a tactical reason to keep her mouth shut, but whatever that reason might be, it doesn't outweigh the distinct advantage of being forewarned of danger.

"Asuma-sensei?" Her voice cuts through the silence. "Have you noticed that something feels… weird?"

They stop walking. In the absence of their footsteps, the silence is so absolute it rings in her ears.

"Weird? What do you mean?"

"Like… I don't know," Ino admits. "None of you guys notice it?"

Choji shakes his head and looks to Shikamaru, who makes a thoughtful noise. "Sort of. I wasn't sure if it's just the fog getting to me, though, but if you've noticed it, then something is probably wrong. Asuma-sensei, what do you think?"

"I haven't sensed anything. No presences, at least. Do you think it might just be the fog after all?" He wonders aloud, scratching his goatee. "It should clear up soon."

"Maybe," Shikamaru admits, looking outwardly a little disquieted now.

Asuma shrugs. "If we can't sense anything, we'll just have to keep moving."

"I guess you're right."

But Ino isn't convinced.

 _What the hell is it?_

It's this weird, instinctual urging, like when you know that someone is watching you, or when your body wakes you before a thunderstorm, or when you walk into your bedroom and know someone has been in there…

It reminds her of Sakura.

Immediately, Ino stops, forcing the group to pause, much to the loud, vocal protestation of Akihiro, but Ino is immediately reaching for her weapons pouch because she has realized something else.

They'd stopped for a full three minutes and Asuma hadn't lit a cigarette.

Ino draws her kunai and flings it at him. Even if she's wrong he'll dodge it – which he does, and the kunai whizzes past him. In the moment of shocked silence, she listens hard and hears nothing. As if the kunai had simply vanished into thin air.

This time, Shikamaru notices too.

Ino puts her hands together and forcefully breaks the flow of her chakra. Shikamaru and Chouji immediately follow suit.

"Kai!"

The fog vanishes instantly – along with most of the solid ground.

They're standing a mere yard from the edge of a cliff. Choji stumbles back and Shikamaru exhales a hiss of breath before sighing fully.

"Nice one, Ino."

She grins, but only for a moment. She's looking around for Asuma and Akihiro and not finding either of them. The winding path they'd taken weaves back over the hills; there is no one in sight. Peering over the edge of the cliff, they're relieved to find no bodies speared on the rocks in the gorge, either.

"Whoever cast the genjutsu must have separated us soon after we entered the border." Shikamaru stares thoughtfully at the long road leading back out into Fire Country. "But I can't figure out why."

Neither can Ino. She peers over the precipice and cringes. It's a long drop. "If the caster wanted Akihiro, wouldn't it have been smarter to simply separate him on his own, or separate him with us rather than having to face Asuma-sensei?"

"Maybe Akihiro's not the target," Choji offers, taking full advantage of the 'break' to reach into a bag of chips.

Shikamaru shakes his head, mumbling a curse under his breath as he tries to parse out the information and reorder it in a way that makes sense. "If Akihiro's not the target, that leaves either us, or Asuma-sensei, and Asuma-sensei isn't here... So the caster obviously wanted us out of the picture, but why would he be after Asuma-sensei…? Unless – no, I think I'm looking at this the wrong way."

Ino and Choji share a mutual look that clearly says, 'we'd better keep our mouths shut and let Shikamaru think.'

The noises of the natural world have returned without the genjutsu to shroud them. The Land of Rivers is really quite beautiful, Ino thinks, admiring the lush grass and the rolling hills. Apparently they haven't descended far enough into the valleys to encounter true fog yet. She commits that thought to memory in case she ever travels this way again. She's not one to let herself be fooled twice.

"I think _we're_ the targets," Shikamaru says finally, standing from his crouched position. "It makes sense. Our team was requested specifically, and all three of us are the children of clan heads."

Around a mouthful of chips, Choji asks the thought in Ino's head, "But who would target us?"

"Akihiro. He was the one who put out the contract, and if that guy's demeanor is any kind of clue," Shikamaru's tone is somewhere between wry amusement and annoyance, "then he probably figured killing off such politically major players would earn himself a name."

"Are you saying that he wants to kill us for _infamy_?" Ino clarifies. "That doesn't make sense for a wannabe politician, does it? And he has to know that he wouldn't be able to hire someone skilled enough to kill Asuma-sensei, right?"

Shikamaru scowls at the thought. "No, that's not what I mean. I'm saying that he hired people to kill us so that he could pretend someone put a hit on him, an assassin strong enough to take out three politically significant ninja, in order to spread his name and raise his prestige. A hunted man implies a valuable one. Moreover," here Shikamaru pauses, sorting through the information and finding the most likely possibilities. "Asuma-sensei is a renowned shinobi from the Leaf's ancestral line. I think you're right, Ino. I doubt Akihiro believes he can get Asuma-sensei killed. It's more likely he's planning to use Asuma-sensei's heritage as part of his fabricated story, but I'm not sure how yet."

"This guy's batshit," Ino groans, trusting Shikamaru's assessment. Besides, it fits Akihiro's character – self-absorbed, delusional, narcissistic… It would be just like that guy to do something so outlandishly complicated to achieve fame, since he so clearly hasn't been able to earn the respect he feels he deserves.

Ino really hopes that she gets to beat the shit out of him at some point today.

"We'd better go," Shikamaru gestures at them, preparing to run back the way they came. "I doubt Asuma would fall for something like this, but I'm sure he's worried, at least."

#

It turns out that Shikamaru is right about Akihiro and wrong about Asuma.

They find their sensei wandering, alone, talking to himself in the sparse forest along the border of Fire and Rivers. It's no wonder, though; whoever planned to separate them had done a thorough job. They have to break through four layered illusions before Asuma returns to normal, and meanwhile trying to dodge his lethal attacks. Genjutsu or not, Asuma is no lightweight, and the presence of three ninja trying to get their hands on him was enough to alert him that something was amiss.

They all come out unscathed, except for a minor burn on Choji's finger and a long shallow cut on Shikamaru's forearm. After Shikamaru explains his theory, Asuma is understandably pissed. Ino suspects she'll have to share the joy of kicking the crap out of Akihiro.

"I think you're right, Shikamaru. I suspected he might try and pull something from the beginning; the whole mission seemed off to me. Nothing quite like this, though…" Asuma pulls out a cigarette, and all three of his students are, for the first time, glad to see him smoking. "I can't believe the guy organized his own kidnapping."

"I can," Ino mutters. "So, should we just let him rot?"

If there is a hint of hopefulness in her voice, no one mentions it.

"No. Our contract is to deliver him – alive and in one peace – to Tanigakure, so that's what we're going to do. The only thing that's making me hesitate is that the guy somehow managed to hire ninja adept enough at genjutsu to trick all four of us. These aren't ordinary thugs."

"I'm sure we can handle it," Ino boasts. "Right, guys?"

"Um…"

"Whatever…"

Gritting her teeth, she pivots on her heel and grabs them both by the ear, annoyed at their lack of motivation.

"Get your heads in the game!" She snaps, ignoring their pained protests. "We already almost died! If you guys don't take this seriously, we all might get hurt."

"Alright, alright already," Shikamaru backs out of her reach as soon as she lets go. "Then let's find the idiot."

Choji rubs his ear, wincing. "But where could they have gone? There aren't exactly many places to hide around here."

With his umpteenth exhausted sigh of the day, Shikamaru begins the trek back the way they came. Again. "If I had to guess, they're probably back at the cliff. He likely intended to snap Asuma out of the genjutsu and knew he'd come follow our tracks, and finding our bodies there, would immediately pursue our attackers. There's probably a cave or something in the cliff face," he grumbles, his voice fading into annoyed mumbling. "So damn tiresome…"

#

Shikamaru is right – again.

There is a cave in the cliff face. The whole thing is really like a parody of an action movie with four weary, pissed off, disillusioned protagonists. By now, Ino is very tired of retracing her steps for someone she'd rather let die than save, and she's frustrated that her team nearly walked themselves off a cliff, but none of those emotions hold a candle to the steady rage building at Akihiro.

All this trouble. For what? So the guy could _show off_?

It's downright infuriating.

Contract or no, a C-rank mission should not include rescuing someone from a kidnapping. At least they can all find some minor satisfaction when they force him to pay the substantial difference between that and a B-rank. It's not enough of a punishment though, honestly. Not for a guy who'd planned to use the deaths of three people to increase his bloated self-esteem and garner the attention of some of Konoha's oldest clans.

They enter the cave silently, Ino falling back with Shikamaru as they cling to the wet – and slimy – ceiling. The layers of slick fungus under her feet make for a precarious hold, and she allocates an extra buffer of chakra to stabilize her footing. It's too dark to see much. She might've expected the cave to be lit up in that way characteristic of evil villains: torches, lanterns, some diverging cave path where one half is a trap the other leads illogically into the exact room where the bad guys are…

But there are no such things. Asuma and Choji cling to the sides of the cave on the floor, stepping stealthily around rocks and lifting their knees higher than normal to avoid skipping pebbles noisily along the stone floor.

After what feels like half-a-mile at a snail's pace, they round a corner and finally find the traditional décor of cave dwelling bad guys everywhere. There's even the split path and everything. Holding only his fingers up to the light, Asuma signals to the left path with two fingers. He obscures himself in the shadows of the one to his right.

With Choji having rejoined them, the three genin quietly make their way through the winding cavern. There is no noise but for the dripping ceiling. Ino shares a look with her teammates as they all notice the lanterns lining the walls grow sparse and disappear. After five more minutes, Shikamaru stops them both with a tap on the shoulder. He leads them within arms reach and there is the brief uncomfortable sensation of having their chakra tampered with, and then they wall of rock before them signifying a bend in the cave disappears. The mouth of the underground tunnel from which they'd first entered takes its place.

 _They tried to send us off a cliff… again?!_

Ino frowns, disappointed that she hadn't noticed anything, but then again, it's a more difficult task with one of her major senses obscured. Any shinobi would feel ill at ease while not being able to see.

"How did you know?" She whispers. The three of them have already turned back, taking a quick pace to reach Asuma who had, presumably, chosen the right path.

"I've been keeping track of the bends and our distance. I knew we'd made a circle, so that last corner couldn't have existed."

"Too smart for your own good," Ino replies lightly, but there's pride in her voice.

They encounter one more genjutsu on the way, a false path with some kind of smothering rock trap attached to it – _I knew it!_ – before reaching Asuma. He's sitting rather boredly against the lip of the room's entrance, and when he sees them, he jabs one finger in the direction of the center of the room.

It's Akihiro. He's tied to a chair and one of his so-called "kidnappers" is occasionally tipping a flask up to his lips.

 _This guy…!_ Ino savagely wants to beat him up. But, alas, maybe she can take out some of her anger on his idiotic henchmen.

They look to Asuma for guidance. He holds up six fingers and points in turn. There's the eye-patched guy with the flask. Two playing cards in the back at a half-rotted table. One eating dinner in the far corner, and two more hiding in the shadowed periphery of the stalagmites bordering the walls. Then Asuma stands and, without further ado, simply walks into the room.

"Akihiro," he deadpans.

Akihiro, the flask to his lips, freezes. Recovering quickly, he sputters and lashes his head side-to-side, "It's poison!" He cries dramatically. "You keep that thing away from me!"

By now, though, Ino is too pissed to stay polite. "Oh shut up you megalomaniacal creep! We've figured out your idiotic plan, so why don't you just call it quits and come nicely?"

"I – I have no idea what you're –"

"It's pointless," Shikamaru interrupts. "Your plan won't work anymore. We've figured it out, and we're all alive, so quit being so troublesome."

Akihiro unwisely does not take his advice. Rather, considering his plan's failure, he adjusts and comes up with a new one. Unfortunately for him, he's no Shikamaru-level tactician, and they can see his intentions from a mile away: eliminate them all, "narrowly" escape, get respect.

"I'm not wasting my money to not succeed!" He growls. His head swivels to the now standing group of ninja in the cave and urges them forward with a jerk of his head. "If you kill them all, I'll double your pay!"

Team 10 sighs.

"So annoying…"

"W – wait a minute…"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Asuma interrupts them all, drawing his chakra blades and taking a serious stance. Sensing his seriousness, his students follow suit.

"Detain Akihiro, then focus on the two in the shadows. Keep one conscious. I'll take the other four – and don't forget," he says seriously, "anything could be an illusion. This is one of those times where you must think first and strike second."

The three of them nod. With one coordinating glance, Choji extends an arm and rather roughly bops Akihiro on the side of the head, promptly knocking him out.

With another quick look, Choji and Ino step forward, approaching the two ninja stepping out of the shadows. She takes the one with the black half-mask. Choji charges the one with the ugly scar on his face. She hears the sounds of their fight on her right side and lures her opponent in the opposite direction, dodging what she can and, with a quickness she didn't know she had, blocks what she can't avoid. When he lifts a foot to kick her, Ino is already a step ahead, parrying him by her own swift kick to his shin.

 _Thanks, Gai-sensei!_ She rejoices, proud and impressed with herself. It's reassuring to gloat. That means the battle will be over simply and without a mess, or that's what she's thinking when she hears Shikamaru behind her,

"Shadow Possession, successful."

She turns and finds his shadow doing the very useful job of detaining an, admittedly threatening looking, stalagmite.

"Damnit! Shikamaru!" She calls out. He doesn't react. Her opponent rushes her, and she slams her fist as hard as she can into his stomach, delaying him just long enough for her to jump to Shikamaru and tap him on the back with a flicker of chakra.

The genjutsu breaks and he blinks, realizing immediately what had happened.

"Damn. Sorry, Ino."

"It's alright," she flashes him a smile and turns back to her opponent only to find him charging at Choji.

 _Shit_. Thank goodness for Gai and Lee again, though; she rushes forward with a speed she wouldn't have been able to come close to a mere month ago, tackling the masked man to the floor. She hears Shikamaru's warning and quickly rolls off of him.

"Success," he calls. The trapped ninja strains against the binding, his muscles flexing until Shikamaru tightens the hold.

One more now. She turns to help Choji with the last one but pauses, knowing better than to rush directly in with Choji's gigantic swinging fists. Ino instead skirts around the battle and has a mere moment to realize the thing caught on her foot is a tripwire an inch from the floor.

 _A trap?_ _ **In**_ _the main room? That's not fair!_

Ino rolls out of the way of the rather loud rocks now falling from the ceiling. And they are very loud. Rocks don't make that sound when they fall, do they? Then again, genjutsu users are those that like to manipulate people through their senses, creating false ones, taking advantage of real ones, leading people to…

Oh. _Shit shit shit_ , Ino looks down at her calf. It's punctured like a pincushion. The perforations are so small that they hardly even bleed... Which means that they aren't intended to cause damage – which means they're intended to do something else.

Thin needles. Like a syringe. Poison?

 _Who puts poison needles on the floor?!_

It really isnt' fair – bad guys aren't supposed to put traps in their _own_ rooms, just in the ones outside, and really, what a weird place to put a tripwire, up against the wall like that!

"Ino!" Shikamaru's voice carries from somewhere very, very far away. Like, really far. _Suuuuper_ far. "Are you grandmother's kitten?!"

…What.

Ino stands on shaky legs and stares hard at Shikamaru, who she is only now realizing is actually very handsome for a balding lemur. On her left, Choji is using very long spaghetti noodles to tie up the last of the enemy shinobi.

"No…" Ino says, dragging out the word with painful slowness. "I don't… think I am…"

Asuma-sensei at some point reforms in front of her from where he'd been previously floating around as a large cloud of ash.

"Sensei, I think I've been, uh…"

She's distracted by the weird clicking noise that Asuma is making with his tongue, and then from her left, she hears her teacher's voice.

"Poisoned?" He asks, suddenly standing by her side. The one in front of her melts down in a way that is really rather gruesome and reforms into a large rock, which she suspects is what it had been all along, but rocks don't click, do they?

Asuma opens his mouth and she watches in mute horror as little cartoon vines creep outwards from the back of his throat, blooming at the ends into beautiful flowers that dot his face. "What are the ways? I can't remember the last time I had to wash my _own_ back, if you know what I mean."

"Uh…" Ino blinks and bites her lip to keep from laughing. It doesn't help, and she snorts in her attempt to stifle her amusement. "Um… can you, uh, say that again, sensei?"

Asuma tilts his head slightly. The afterimages are beautifully rainbow. She has to wonder, what with the rainbow and the vines and the flowers, is her sensei really just a large, verdant hill?

"I said, you can't catch a cat with only your socks on! Now quick, before it's too late!"

"Right… Well, I'm –" she's about to say hallucinating, but then there's a blinding flash from the ceiling. Choji pokes his head through the roof of the cave. His voice resounds through the large space, echoing and filling her ears completely with a deep baritone that isn't his at all.

"You mustn't speak of such things, Ino. What would your mother say?"

Back in reality, Asuma, Shikamaru, and Choji share a worried look.

"I take it she's hallucinating," Shikamaru offers. "And there's no standard antidote for this one, is there?"

Asuma sheathes his weapons and goes to fetch the limp body of Akihiro. "No, there isn't. In fact, I have no idea what it is, which means we need to get home immediately."

"Good thing the mission is over anyway."

Asuma hands Akihiro to Choji and then, carefully, he picks up Ino and heads for the cave's exit. Their quick footsteps are punctuated by babbling nonsense and a lot of enthusiastic, repressed laughter.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei…" Shikamaru asks with slight hesitation. "Wouldn't it be easier to knock her out?"

"Probably," Asuma admits, struggling to still the giggling, exuberant girl in his arms who is mumbling things about _Sasuke-kun!_ that are making him very, very nervous. "But the poison is messing with her head. I don't want to risk making it worse by knocking her around."

"Fair point," Shikamaru concedes. His face slowly reddens as Ino's words increase in vulgarity. Finally, he removes the headband from his arm and ties it over her mouth.

"You'll thank me for that later," he mumbles.

But Ino doesn't protest at all, actually, and he tries very hard not to think about that.

* * *

#

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	10. Strength is What We Fear to Lose

**A/N : **Thanks to everyone as usual for your kind words, follows and favorites. :)

* * *

Chapter 9

"Strength is What We Fear to Lose"

...

It's the next day that Sakura finds out what Lee preemptively apologized for, but it's really Kakashi-sensei that should be apologizing. Not that she's sure she would trust it coming from him.

At ten in the morning, Lee shows up to drag her to their usual training grounds despite that she has the day off, rambling on about how he knows he should not be interrupting her morning meditation, and that he should not have meddled in her affairs, but he just could not stand to see her in such distress!

The blistering August sun condenses her exertion into sweat even at their relatively slow pace. When they reach the training grounds, Kakashi is waiting there, indifferent as ever. His eye droops lazily. He waves an apathetic hand at her from the center of the field.

"Yo."

Sakura looks back and forth between him and Lee, then around the field in search of Sasuke, but he's nowhere to be seen.

She bows in a way that's more formal than she needs to, considering the amount of time she's spent with this man, but somehow, he's never felt any closer than a stranger. One who has saved her life, admittedly, but one who's also put it at risk just as often.

"Kakashi-sensei," she greets. "What are you doing here?"

"A little birdy insisted that you needed my help with something." His eye creases, belying the smile underneath his mask.

Sakura looks to Lee, and he stands straighter, stiff as a board in the acceptance of this very important responsibility.

"Sakura-san has become quite capable in the art of taijutsu," Lee explains, "but only half of her. The other half does not have the… constitution," he fills in after a moment of hesitation, "to engage in hand-to-hand combat. As such, she requires training in an alternative set of offensive moves. Unfortunately, Gai-sensei and I are not capable of offering such instruction."

"Oh?" Kakashi hums thoughtfully, leaning forward to get a better look at Sakura, who is leaning away and staring pointedly at the ground. It's obvious that she's changed. Not only is her musculature more developed, but the fact that she didn't stutter while greeting him speaks volumes, too. "That must mean you've gained some mental control as well?"

Sakura nods.

"Would you mind demonstrating?"

She nods again. In a few seconds at most, Sakura's body shifts, almost an unfolding of sorts, as her hands go to her hips. Her eyes narrow at him in a mixture of skepticism and annoyance.

"Are you just here to admire all the things you didn't teach me, or what?"

 _Sakura!_

( _What? It's true!_ )

"Well," Kakashi sighs. "That would be much easier than what I actually came here to do."

"Which would be?"

"To train you."

"Aren't you busy with Sasuke?" She deadpans, pulling loose threads from her gloves disinterestedly. She'd begun to feel unprepared without them, even when she wasn't training. They'd quickly become part of her everyday outfit.

"I was, but you're my student too, after all." He ignores her mumbled, 'could have fooled me.' "And you have very good, and very persistent friends."

Now that, she agreed with. "You're right about that," she says triumphantly, tossing a nonchalant wink in Lee's direction that turns him red from head to toe.

Kakashi watches this interaction without a single change in facial expression, but only because he's extremely skilled at controlling his reactions, not because he doesn't have any.

Sakura's irritation with him is completely justified. He would never deny that. He doesn't know how to explain to her the extent of the scarring on Sasuke's psyche, though, or that his intensive training is really Kakashi's last bid at stabilizing him enough that he won't simply leave in search of Orochimaru, as the sannin promised he would. As much as Kakashi genuinely dislikes having to divide his attention so unevenly, it isn't without reason.

But he can't say that. Too many secrets, he thinks: Sasuke's, and the village's, and his.

Although, he notes with no small amount of pride, she has done quite well on her own. She even made a friend outside of Ino – a friendship that he finds very amusing for a few reasons, along with her new mentorship. He's thankful for that, too; although Gai probably rambled about winning a point in their eternal rivalry for being the one to train Sakura, the jounin likely knew the urgency of Kakashi's disappearance. It helps that he trusts Gai with his life and limbs – let alone with his students.

What impresses and surprises him more than Sakura's newfound confidence, and her new friends, however, is that there are distinctly two of her. He admittedly hadn't known what to expect when he asked Ino for help. It could have gone a couple ways: helping her merge them together, or helping her erase one in favor of the other. He hadn't expected Ino to teach Sakura to strengthen them both.

 _A wise decision, apparently_ , he thinks, trying to calculate all the advantages of having two minds in one body. There are some notable disadvantages too, of course, but those are things she'll have to deal with in her own time.

For now, playing on those strengths will give her a serious leg up in the finals.

"Sakura, have you heard of the Hell Viewing Technique?"

"Yeah," she shrugs. "Why?"

"Would you like to learn it?"

"I can't." Kakashi waits for her to explain. "Sakura does the genjutsu – I don't have the imagination for it."

"So, then, what do you do?"

"I punch people!"

She says it with such a cheery smile, too…

"Ah, that's right. I seem to remember you giving Ino quite a punch in the preliminaries," he muses aloud, noticing her visible cringe. _The two of them must've become pretty close._ "Did Gai explain the mechanics of that power?" _Like I asked him to_ , he doesn't add. He doubts words will change her opinion of him at this point.

"Yep. Although, he said he couldn't teach me to use it more efficiently – but," she adds, slinging an arm around Lee and nearly sending him skyrocketing into the stars with joy, "he and Lee taught me a lot of taijutsu complimenting it, anyway."

That's hardly surprising. He can only imagine the vast improvements she's made under the unforgiving tutelage of someone like Gai.

"In that case, why don't we have a quick spar? So I can figure out where you stand and where to go from there."

"But it's not me that you're supposed to train," Sakura reminds him impatiently. "It's Sakura."

She can hear the smile in his voice when he speaks, "Teamwork, remember? I imagine you're going to play off of each other's strengths, so I'd better figure out what those are first."

Sakura shrugs and adjusts her gloves, conceding the point. She moves to step into the open, grassless clearing they usually use for sparring but then remembers something and stops after her first step. She turns to Lee and wraps him in a friendly hug.

"Thanks, Lee," she squeezes him gently. "You're awesome for caring so much. I know finding him probably wasn't easy, so I owe you one."

"N-not at all, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaims with explosive emotion, tears streaming openly down his face. "Should you ever need anything at all, I will always be here for you!"

"You're the best."

She separates herself and turns to meet Kakashi a few yards away, missing the little cartoon hearts exploding from Lee's body like fireworks and shooting into the air as all of his romantic, youthful energy fizzles and burns, diffusing him into some kind of aqueous, wobbly sublimation that floats away on the breeze…

"Ready when you are, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Ladies first," he offers cheerfully.

Sakura doesn't need any more invitation than that. She crosses the distance between them in an instant, feigning a punch that he steps back from, only for him to nearly be caught by the strike she actually intended to hit him with – a sweeping kick. He vanishes from in front of her – ( _he's so damn fast_ ) – leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake that doesn't have time to finish rising before she whirls around, sending her foot out to catch him in the thigh. He vanishes again before it makes contact.

 _He's not going to let you hit him. He knows how strong you are._

( _Yeah, I figured._ ) Sakura thinks back, trying to jam her elbow into his head and failing in the face of his superior speed. ( _But that just means I can keep him from hitting me by trying to hit him first._ )

True enough, at each of Kakashi's reappearances, she lashes out with the nearest limb, forcing him to dodge. Besides, as Gai taught her, she doesn't necessarily have to succeed in her strike to inflict damage. Any point of contact is an opening for a counter. While he's obviously biding time to get a sense of her fighting style and unwilling to try and block any of her powerful blows, he'll have to attempt an offensive at some point.

That point comes much later, when she's nearly exhausted herself. He's conserved far more energy by dodging in comparison to the amount she's expended trying to hit him. If this were a real fight, she would've had to flee long ago. Then again, if this were a real fight, she would've run in the first place. She's not delusional enough to think she could beat someone like Kakashi.

At last, though, he appears beside her and launches a fist at her face that she catches before it's even halfway there – her training in action.

( _Finally!_ )

Offensive as defensive. That's what Gai taught her. She grips his fist hard enough to crack his knuckles and twists with sufficient force to shatter his wrist, and it's only his quick thinking that prevents it from happening. He feels the strain in his bones and can't prevent the motion or withdraw his hand. Instead, he uses the torque provided by her strength to twist himself in tandem, jumping up and rotating his body in the same direction.

( _Damn_.)

Before his feet can touch the ground, she yanks him in towards her like a fish hooked on a line, drawing her knee up to slam it into his chest. Kakashi, forced into close proximity, uses his free hand to keep the offending limb from completely winding him, though she's satisfied to catch the wince on his face as his hand is forced between her knee and his sternum.

In the span of a few seconds, they're completely tangled. She sends a left hook at his face with her free hand, and in his cramped position, his only defense is to catch it, rendering both of his hands useless, and there's a moment of surprise when Sakura actually dares to think that she'd been wrong.

Had she really trapped him? All she'd have to do now is use his own weight to crush him into the ground, what with his body too close for him to kick efficiently, and his hands are wrapped with hers –

Well, wrapped isn't the right word. The right hand he'd used to catch her knee is locked into place between their bodies. His left one, however, is intertwined with her fingers rather strangely. A familiar strange.

A, he's-making-a-seal-using-her-fingers kind of strange.

"No way!" She shouts disbelievingly, and his eye creases in that familiar smile before her muscles convulse with the electricity pouring out of his body.

 _That was smart_.

( _Aren't you supposed to be on my side?!_ )

"N-n-n-n-no f-f-f-f-fair," Sakura stutters, her muscles still twitching in the aftershocks. Her insides feel singed. It's a new experience – a very unwelcome one. "I th-th-thought onl-l-ly t-t-t-taij-j-jutsssss-u!"

"It is taijutsu," he points out blithely. She wonders if he's doing it just to piss her off. "Enhanced taijutsu, like your strength."

Sakura would have continued to grumble irritably, if only she could regain control of any of her motor functions. They return slowly, however, and she's forced to lie on the ground twitching until they do.

"You've improved drastically, Sakura. I'm impressed. If you'd been fighting Sasuke or Naruto, I'm not sure they would've been able to break that hold."

When she can speak normally again, she points out, "Naruto would've just slammed his face into mine. I've seen him do it."

"True," Kakashi concedes. "But, now that I know what you can do, why don't we work on something to compliment your skills?"

"Such as?"

"Mm… that depends. Have you figured out your elemental affinity yet?"

Flexing her fingers and finding them responsive, Sakura tentatively attempts to roll onto her back and sit up. "Water for me. Earth for Sakura."

"That's convenient," he says dryly, hiding his surprise. He'd always assumed that affinities were entirely physiological; not so, it seems. Or at least not completely. "In that case, I'll teach you the basics of one of each, but you won't be able to perfect them in time for the exam. Mostly, it'll be genjutsu homework."

Sakura glares at him. "Basics and homework. So, you're leaving again?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Duty calls," he says lightly.

( _Why don't_ we _count?_ ) She wants to ask, but she bites her tongue.

At least he's going to teach her something.

#

The homework for her elemental techniques is as difficult as it is simple, and it is extremely so in both regards.

Draw the water out of a leaf until it crumbles to dust. Then, reform the shape of the leaf using that dust. It feels like he's asking her to do magic or turn stone into gold, and she doesn't get more than the slightest condensation during the four hours she spends trying. Even then, part of her wonders if it could've just been sweat from her hands…

The genjutsu training goes much more smoothly. That is, in part ,because half of it involves reading books, which Sakura can do half asleep and with one eye closed. The other parts of it suit her equally well: observation and practice.

Genjutsu is most effective, Kakashi said, when it's undetectable. An obvious one like the Hell Viewing Technique is useful as emotional warfare but easily noticed; a puddle of water or an extra tree in a forest, less so. Learning to manipulate others through false senses means that the victim must be committed to the illusion through those senses.

In other words, it all depends on the quality of the illusion, so Sakura decides to dedicate much of her time in the future to touching, smelling, tasting, listening, and looking closely at everyday objects until every detail is ingrained in her memory to be recalled at a moment's notice.

No matter how silly it feels to go around sniffing trees.

But all of that is put on hold when Team 10 returns two days early.

The feeling Sakura has when she hears the news is like being thrown off a cliff. Her stomach flops like a fish out of water and her heart gives one, powerful thud that resounds in her ears. She's not sure she's ever been more excited for anything in her life.

When she hears that Ino is in the hospital, the same strange physiological reaction happens again – only this time, out of fear.

"Before you go running off," Shikamaru, standing in the front doorway of her house, stops her before she does exactly that, "you should know that she's fine. She's not hurt."

"…Then why is she in the hospital?"

Strangely, there is the faintest of blushes on his cheeks when he answers, "She was poisoned with some kind of hallucinogenic drug. The doctors said that it isn't fatal, but they don't have an antidote for it, either. She'll have to wait for it to clear out on its own."

"Hallucinogenic…?" Sakura repeats worriedly. "What kind of hallucinations are they?"

"They're…" Shikamaru fumbles for words. "They vary. On the way home, she was mostly laughing about things. Something about being put in the hospital, though… whatever she's seeing now," he finishes reluctantly, "it's not pretty."

"Can't – can't they put her to sleep or something?"

He sighs regretfully. "No. They don't know what the active compound is, so they're afraid any drugs they give her might interact with it and make things worse."

Sakura is bouncing on her feet restlessly, trying to figure out if dashing there would help or hurt, but she knows she'll only be able to keep herself from going for so long.

As if sensing her internal dilemma, Shikamaru steps away from the door and gestures towards town.

"You can see her if you want. Just keep in mind she's not herself."

"Thank you, Shikamaru – and I will," she promises, the last words thrown over her shoulder as she's already running in the direction of the hospital.

#

Sakura isn't sure why she's so surprised that this could happen. It'd been naïve of her to think that doctors have the cure for everything, but honestly, she knows so little about how medical ninjutsu works that it mostly felt like magic the few times she'd been treated by med-nins. And magic could fix everything.

But apparently not.

It still feels unreal, though. She stalls outside of Ino's room, the soles of her shoes squeaking quietly against the white tiles below her as she paces.

What are the chances that someone she knows would get struck with a poison for which no one had a cure? That just feels so unlikely – like one in a million kind of unlikely. Plot-of-a-bad-movie unlikely, even.

Unless, of course, the truth is that there are many, many things for which the doctors in this hospital have no cure, and Ino's case is really one of dozens. It's an incredibly scary thought.

Sakura frowns at the white walls and the white floors and the white ceiling, not understanding. How could that be? What about all the training? The experience? The greatest medical ninja to ever walk the earth once worked in this very hospital. How could there still be so much that they just _don't know_?

A crash from inside Ino's room jars her out of her thoughts, and Sakura opens the door merely by reflex. She'd meant to knock first and give some warning so as not to startle her, but it's too late for that now, so she enters the room with an apology on her lips that she doesn't get to speak.

The bedside table, a rather flimsy construction of thin wood, is smashed to pieces on the far wall. Ino herself is nowhere to be seen. The large, shivering mass of blankets atop the bed is a good clue as to her whereabouts.

"I wish you'd stop yelling," comes a voice from beneath the twisted sheets. "Birds aren't supposed to sound like that, you know…"

There's a brief silence and then some quiet, hysterical giggling. Sakura stands in the doorway and doesn't dare move. When Shikamaru said, "hallucinogenic drug," she hadn't imagined something like this. Most of the compounds she knew of were more dissociative than truly hallucinogenic, producing an incapacitating, dreamlike state rather than the vivid false illusions Ino must be seeing.

It's definitely the worse of the two, Sakura thinks, watching Ino twitch under the blankets. Her heart sinks further with each fearful movement. At least in a dreamlike state, one is far removed from one's surroundings. True hallucinations, on the other hand, are a peculiar kind of delirium that depends on awareness. They weave themselves seamlessly into the fabric of reality, your very thoughts and perceptions, fooling your brain into thinking that their presence is possible and even sensible – they become indistinguishable no matter how unlikely the vision.

It's ironic, Sakura thinks without a hint of amusement, that Ino is suffering from a condition that Sakura is currently trying to reproduce.

She approaches the bed but stops halfway between Ino and the door.

"Ino?"

The shivering blankets go still.

"It's me," she says gently. "It's Sakura."

Abruptly, Ino's face emerges from the coil of sheets around her body, her eyes narrowed in a suspicious glare. "Forehead…" she hisses the word like a curse.

Sakura quickly stomps out the hurt the insult creates. She's not used to being around that side of Ino, and even though she and her other half obviously have the same forehead, it feels different when the insults aren't directed at her specifically. Now, it stings worse than the bullies of her early academy days, before she'd learned to cope with their teasing.

 _But it's not really Ino, right?_

( _She probably doesn't have the presence of mind to figure out which one of us she's talking to_ ,) Sakura points out. ( _Why don't you let me handle it? I've got thicker skin than you._ )

 _Yeah… good point._

They promptly switch places. This Sakura answers easily, "You rang?"

"Ha!" Ino throws off the blankets triumphantly, the illusory bird long forgotten. "Come here to challenge me, did you?"

"Challenge you to what?"

"To win Sasuke-kun's love, of course!" She says haughtily, hopping up on the mattress. It's not the wisest move. The bed is on wheels, and it shifts precariously, threatening to slide out from under her feet. As subtly as possible, Sakura steps forward to put a steadying hand on it.

"And what would I want that for?"

"Because! He's sexy!"

"Well, yeah, but I'm not –"

"No! No, no," Ino folds her arms across her chest and peers down her nose at Sakura. "I don't need your petty excuses. The battle is over anyway – I'll have you know I won his love on the way home from – the uh – from the mountains of…?" She pauses thoughtfully. "I think…?"

Sakura figures out immediately that whatever Ino thinks has happened is the result of a hallucination. She waits patiently for her to continue, but then Ino's eyes start following some invisible thing in the air, trailing its movement around the room.

"So, what happened? Did he confess or something?" Sakura asks quickly, trying to distract her.

"Whose couches?"

"Uh… what?"

Ino sighs wistfully. "You should've seen it, the way he held me…"

( _Oooh. I see where this is going_.)

 _Sakura, maybe you shouldn't_ –

"It must've been great," Sakura prods. She uses the pretense of envy to give her voice an edge, covering up the fact that she's trying very hard not to laugh. "You have to give me details… girl talk and all that."

Ino rolls her eyes. "You just want me to tell you about it so you can imagine him naked!"

"Aw, c'mon, Ino! We're friends, aren't we?"

 _Sakura, I_ _ **really**_ _don't think that –_

( _Oh, come on, what's the harm?_ )

 _She's going to be really embarrassed about it later…_

( _Yeah, but I'll be the one to deal with it, not you. So don't worry so much!_ )

 _But –_

Ino sighs heavily, as if Sakura had just asked her to help move all her belongings downtown.

"Fine," she grumbles, moving to sit but finding something at the end of the bed. She squints at it, whatever it is, "Who put this here?" And then she picks it up, its shape rectangular judging by the position of her hands. She holds the imaginary object at arm's length and puts it on the floor before taking a seat on the bed, brushing some kind of nonexistent substance off the sheets.

Satisfied with her work, she gives Sakura a smug smile and proceeds to recount the unimaginable pleasures shared between her and Sasuke-kun.

…It's enough to even make Sakura blush.

"So," she interrupts. "Did he use the rope, or the belt then?"

"Well, first he took his hitai-ate off and used that, but there's this spot right here," she gestures somewhere that Sakura will not expose to curious readers, "that's really sensitive, and he started…"

Ino's imagined, raunchy escapade is so detailed as to be nearly instructive. Sakura's hand itches for a pen and paper to take notes.

"…And then, he ! #$^ my *&^%$# with the back of the *&^%, but you should've seen the look on his face when ! #%^$ fell off the &^%! and we wound up ! $#% all over the $%^#&!"

Boy is it hot in here, Sakura thinks, drumming her fingers agitatedly against the bedpost. Aren't hospitals supposed to be cold? And why had she asked for these details again?

"A-ah, so, uh, so do you usually – uh, like that kind of thing, or…?"

And why is she _still_ asking for them…?!

 _Sakura!_

( _What?! Don't get all high and mighty on me!_ )

… _I have no idea what you're talking about_.

( _Bullshit! You can't hide anything from me! We have the same body, remember? I know exactly how you feel about this little story –_ )

 _But – you – I – we – I don't want to talk about it!_

"…And then he kissed me, and that was it," Ino finishes with a self-satisfied smirk.

Sakura clears her throat and curls her hand into a fist to cease the compulsory fidgeting motion of her fingers. "Well, that is, certainly, uh, you know, I gotta say, it's, um…"

"Heh. I knew you'd be jealous."

"That is… not the word I would use," Sakura mumbles, mostly to herself. "Anyway, I'm happy for you that you've won Sasuke's – heart. His heart. Yes."

Again, not the word she would've used.

Ino opens her mouth to reply and promptly shuts it. Her shoulders visibly tense. She reaches for the forgotten blanket, her fingers wrapping around its edge one at a time. The muscles in her forearm jump apprehensively as if she's preparing to strike.

"Wait a minute… You're being awfully nice about this…"

( _Uh oh_.)

"W-well, I'm just too surprised, you know, that I lost, to be mad yet."

The blankets fly into the air with a loud whooshing before settling over Ino in a rather disquieting way, like a bad Halloween ghost costume. " _Liar,_ " she accuses. "You would never be calm about this! You've been in love with Sasuke since we were five-years-old!"

"I – what?"

"Don't think I don't remember! Your confession, the rivalry, when you gave me back the ribbon so we could compete for his love, how we spent years at each other's throats…"

( _Oh man. She's totally lost it._ )

"Ino," Sakura says slowly, "we've only really known each other for about six weeks… none of that stuff could've happened –"

"I'm sorry," Ino's whisper cuts her off, her form drooping under the cocoon of blankets. "I should've been nicer to you."

"You are nice to me," Sakura's answer is instant. At last recovered from her mortification and other compromising emotions, she approaches Ino's hidden form and tentatively lifts the edge of the blanket, finding Ino's sorrowful eyes gazing at her from the opening. "In fact, you've never been mean to me."

( _Not directly, anyway_ …)

"No, see, but I was, but maybe it wasn't me at all," she whispers forlornly. " _I_ wouldn't do that, would I?"

"Ino –"

"Maybe I'm not me at all!" Ino's tremulous voice rises in volume, and sensing the panic, Sakura does her best to clamp down on it before it gets out of hand.

"Come on, Ino, it's weirding me out to hear you talk like this, and drugs or not, you –"

"Drugs?" Ino breathes, her expression rapidly changing to reflect that same panic Sakura had been trying to suppress. "Who said anything about drugs? It was you, wasn't it?"

She's looking fearfully at the far wall. Sakura follows her gaze to the broken bedside stand.

"I – "

Ino's hands fly up to her ears, slapping over them to block out whatever noise she might be hearing. "Ugh, this thing just won't shut up!"

( _What do we do?_ )

 _I guess… maybe we can make her see that it isn't real?_

"Where is this bird?" Sakura asks. She lifts Ino's hands, allowing her to hear momentarily. Ino points at a spot on the floor, and Sakura goes there only to watch Ino's finger move. She follows it again, but Ino keeps pointing at different places, looking increasingly frustrated, and Sakura realizes that she and the imaginary bird are having an imaginary dance.

 _Her brain thinks the bird is real, and people can't walk through real birds, so it's making that impossible for us._

"Hey, what if I open the window?" Sakura asks, already heading to the wall to do just that. "Maybe it'll just fly away?"

Ino gives her an odd look. "What, are you crazy? That thing would never fit outside a window that size."

Oh yeah, Sakura thinks, _she's_ the one that's crazy right now. Ino continues to watch her, looking annoyed at her apparent stupidity. She flinches suddenly at some perceived increase in the bird's volume, wrapping her arms around her head and curling her body inward under the blankets.

"It fucking hurts," she growls, and despite her obvious anger, the overtones of pained distress are more prominent. Sakura grits her teeth at her helplessness.

How. How can the doctors not fix this? Why is there nobody here to help?

( _What do we do?_ )

 _I have an idea. Switch with me_.

( _Are you sure you can talk to her when she's being such a pig?_ )

 _It'll be okay now that I'm expecting it. And I wish you wouldn't call her that, you know…_

( _But it's fun! And also true! Can you think of anyone more pig-headed than Ino?_ )

Sakura rolls her eyes at the strange rivalry her other half has developed. She supposes that's just what happens when you put two hardheaded people together.

 _Well, I happen to think pigs are cute, for your information._

( _So do I._ )

Sakura neatly folds that piece of information into a crisp little square and tucks it away to be dealt with at a later time.

For now, she approaches the window and does her best to imagine what it would look like if it were bigger. It's facing the courtyard down below, and from this height, she can see the tops of buildings in the distance.

If she repeats those buildings in her new imagery, will Ino notice that they're just clones of each other? She's not sure she has the mental prowess to imagine architecturally unique structures into existence yet, but hopefully Ino is too delusional to spot the unnatural similarities.

"Sakura? What are you doing?"

"I'm opening the window."

Having fine enough control to manipulate chakra inside of someone else's body is a feat that's astoundingly difficult to achieve. Sakura does her best to reflect the images in her mind into Ino's, widening the window, trying to make it _real_ – _six-by-ten feet, wood frame, lacquered paint, white, smooth, if the light is coming from behind and above me, then where will the shine be?_ – and when she finishes, she's simultaneously impressed and disappointed with herself.

The image she creates in Ino's mind will suffice, she hopes, but she knows the people outside are moving quite mechanically and the buildings she'd patterned on the horizon are oddly repetitive in a way that would tip off anyone not under the influence of drugs. The leaves on the trees are smooth as wax, and she berates herself, wondering how someone who had grown up in the Village Hidden in the _Leaves_ could mess up the reconstruction of _leaves_?!

It's more like a bad painting than anything else, but considering the things that Ino is inclined to believe right now, it's enough to fool her. Sakura does not open the real window, but she imagines she does, recalling the memory of the wood squeaking and rattling when she opens her own bedroom window at home.

"Huh," Ino shrugs off the discrepancies, thankfully. "I guess you're right – that is big enough."

Her eyes follow the bird as it flies out of the open window, supposedly, and Ino relaxes. But only for a while.

There are more hallucinations, and more panic, and more terror, and some hilarity, but mostly _terror_ , that Sakura addresses with every ounce of chakra in her body and every reserve of her imagination. So long as Ino needs her help – so long as her help is effective, and the thought that she could be helping someone as strong and capable as Ino is a heart-fluttering thrill – she will stay and help. She owes her that much and then some; more than Sakura could ever give, and so this little bit, she offers without hesitation. No matter how pissed off the nurses look when they tell her she has to leave and she refuses.

After all, Sakura thinks angrily, if anyone had the requisite knowledge to cure this poison, this wouldn't be happening.

Over the course of eight hours, until Ino falls asleep and Sakura collapses in the hospital chair with her fingers trembling and her vision blackening around the edges with chakra depletion, she cannot help the repetitive thought of, _what if it had been worse_?

What if Ino had been afflicted with some other kind of poison? Something lethal? Would the hospital have been able to cure it? Would they have even been able to identify it? And if they hadn't – if they hadn't and Ino had – if she'd –

No. No, no, no. The thought is nauseatingly painful. She will never let that happen.

Never, never, _never._

Sakura had been nothing before Ino – without Ino there would be no Gai, no Lee, no _Sakura_ – and she'd be nothing again without her, but it doesn't take much thought to realize that's not what scares her. She has, after all, become accustomed to spending most of her life literally invisible.

There is something else, something that has nothing to do with Sakura's own wellbeing. It's something far more valuable than that. She would rather peel her own skin off than lose it, and if she had to, she'd peel off someone else's to protect it.

She watches her friend twitch fitfully in her sleep and comes to another simple understanding. It's not a "something."

It's just Ino.

* * *

#

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	11. Secrets, Secrets

**A/N : **Sorry for the late update! I had to go out of the country and wasn't expecting not to have wi-fi access. Oops. I did still manage to get some writing done though, so I'll post two chapters, possibly a third tonight, if I can get around to editing it. Thank you to everyone for your reviews, favs, follows, and your kindness / critiques! They all make this such a pleasure to write.

...And at last, we're at the point where I cover my ass for my earlier oversight, and the match-ups for the final exam are chosen...! Oops. Again.

Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 10

"Secrets, Secrets"

...

After an exhausting week of countering hallucinations with illusions, Ino is at last cleared for release.

She has few memories of her time in the hospital, which is likely a good thing, considering what she'd told Sakura about her… little fantasy escapade. Sakura is all too ready to not mention it. (Half of her, anyway. The other half is just waiting for the opportune time to bring it up.)

The doctors insist that Ino refrain from her usual training regimen for another twenty-four hours, however, and she has to spend a lot of time convincing Sakura that she'll be fine on her own for the duration of Sakura's morning training, and yes she'll be careful, and Sakura has the finals in two weeks and she's going to be late so would she get out of here already?

As soon as training is over, though, Sakura is back at her side, and Ino readjusts quickly to her ever-present companion. They decide on an impromptu barbecue lunch to celebrate Ino's recovery. Sakura listens intently to their joint recounting of the mission told in three differing parts like a pitchy, poorly tuned acapella group.

"The guy we were sent to protect tried to kill us," is how Shikamaru starts, and then Ino berates him,

"You forgot the part where I super helpfully realized that we were all trapped in a genjutsu!"

"There was a lot before that, too," Choji cuts in, "and also why…"

"Tch. For fame."

"That doesn't explain anything!"

Sakura eventually receives enough pieces to put it together. Although her other half insists that Ino is gloating, hers is the story that she's most willing to accept, and by the end of the tale, she's more than impressed.

"That's amazing, Ino – I can't believe you were able to recognize it every time and break it just like that!"

"It wasn't every –" Shikamaru is promptly quieted by what sounds like a foot being shoved into a shin underneath the table. "Damnit, Ino…"

She ignores him. "What can I say? Someone has to take the lead, and as the most capable member of our team, I had to accept that responsibility."

"You really are amazing," Sakura reaffirms, the stars practically falling out of her eyes and clattering onto the table. "I wish I'd been teamed with you…"

Asuma chuckles under his breath at the display. Ino's ego inflates to dangerously high pressures. Shikamaru sighs at the repercussions of such endless flattery. Choji just eats.

After lunch, the two agree to at last complete their long delayed shopping trip, since whatever outfit Sakura buys will take time to break in. It wouldn't do to get new shoes or a new skirt and have it catch on something during the finals. She doesn't have anything particular in mind, and they agree that, besides her gloves, everything else can be replaced.

"They," complicatedly enough, being all three of them.

Ino holds up two different skirts against Sakura's waist, checking for length, but Sakura's eyes are squeezed shut. Her grimace looks pained.

"What's wrong?" Ino pokes her gently.

"Ah, well, Sakura… has an opinion."

"An opinion that would be…?"

"I'm not wearing a catsuit!" Sakura blurts out, her cheeks flush with embarrassment at the very thought.

Ino drops the skirts. "But I guess she's not the modest type either, is she?"

"No…"

It turns out there are also disagreements about practicality. It's not like Ino hasn't had to solemnly balance her own wardrobe along the line of functionality and cuteness, but she'd at least only had to appease herself. In this case, if she takes into account both of their requests, the outfit has to be practical, cute, sexy, not too sexy, no catsuits, nothing baggy, no leather, ( _why don't you just put on a damn parka and be done with it?_ ), and no fishnets.

Not that Ino would dress Sakura in fishnets. The idea is hilariously unsuited for both of them – one too shy, the other too liable to turn into Anko 2.0 if allowed to dress like her. That is an outcome Ino simply won't allow.

She, on the other hand…

"What do you think of these?" She holds up the fishnet tights to her body, though she's simultaneously wondering why she's asking Sakura for fashion advice.

Sakura's face is perfectly blank for a moment. "I like them," she says, smiling through that odd stoicism. "But I think you'd look good in anything."

Right. That's why she asked Sakura.

"Yeah," Ino considers the fishnets but puts them back on the shelf. "I guess you're right."

They eventually decide on a fair compromise. Spandex shorts – but with a skirt. No crop tops – but a sleeveless shirt will work. The knee-high black boots, Ino picks, and though they're a little… tall and heeled for Sakura, her other self loves them and Ino loves them and that matters more.

Best of all, Ino informs her, it all matches.

#

Their opponents for the finals are chosen five days before the exam.

Ino stands with a nervous Sakura as the announcement is made to an eerily quiet room, the only sound coming from the shuffling papers inside the urn as Hayate reaches inside to draw the names. It's super morbid that they used an urn for this, Ino thinks, but she doesn't say so. She's already not supposed to be here. This is for contestants only, but Sakura refused to enter without her, not that she blames her for needing the extra comfort. Ino's gaze slides discreetly over the other participants. Although some people here couldn't care less about the match-ups – Shikamaru, namely, and Lee is too kind to exude malicious energy – all the other contestants are pulsing with a distinctly violent aura.

Notably, Sasuke and Naruto are actually present. Naruto had surprised them both when he jumped Sakura, scaring the ever living daylights out of her and nearly earning himself a severed limb in the process – "I don't mind surprises, Naruto, but my other half doesn't like them much…"

She'd promptly switched personalities to save his life. After reassuring him that she was glad to see him, and that he'd have to tell her where he'd been all this time, they settled in line much to the relief of the six impatient jounin in the room.

Ino made a point of glancing slyly at Sasuke, catching his eye once and flashing him a winning smile, but he didn't even blink.

That's par for the course for Sasuke, she supposes. It still stings, because he's sexier than Gaara's face is hairless, and they'd make a heavenly, unbeatable match, both in love and life and the shinobi arts, but he's so caught up in whatever goes on in his head that for all of Ino's wishing and wanting for the somber Uchiha, she's doubtful that her mission will succeed. Part of her wonders if that is, in fact, why she continues to pursue him. Most people don't turn her down for anything, and even if they do, she can usually convince them to change their minds.

(Here is where Shikamaru might replace the word "convince" with the word "nag" or "bully," but what does he know, really?)

So, although she's used to the cold shoulder from Sasuke, something else affronts her about his behavior today.

He doesn't even glance at Sakura.

Ino frowns, her eyes flitting back and forth between the two. That's no way to treat a teammate, she thinks, and it's not like Sasuke wouldn't have noticed Sakura looking over at him every minute or so to see if he'd noticed her there. Attractiveness and mysteriousness and sexy brooding aside, it's sort of a dick move. More than a dick move, actually.

She'll have to ask Sakura about it later. Maybe something happened between them?

She turns her attention back to the match-ups. Naruto's grinning wickedly at Neji as their names are called, but Neji only nods once and promptly exits the room.

Sakura is called second. Her heart jumps into her throat at the sound of her own name and instinctively, her hand scrabbles to find Ino's, who reassures her with a small squeeze.

"Haruno Sakura," Hayate calls, then coughs, then opens his mouth to speak, then coughs again… Isn't it cruel of the Hokage, Ino wonders, to make someone with only partially functional tonsils be an exam proctor? "And Rock Lee."

The hand in Ino's tenses to an almost painful point and then relaxes. From the far left, Lee looks equally surprised, and Sakura turns to face him. The unreadable expression on his face morphs quickly into his usual blinding smile.

"It will be an honor to battle you, Sakura-san!"

Sakura gives him a weak smile in return.

An honor? Yes. Hopeful? No.

( _Are we screwed or what?_ )

 _It seems that way. Although…_

She can nearly feel the smirk of her inner personality. ( _Yeah. At least we'll put on a good show._ )

Shikamaru looks annoyed to even hear his name spoken – it's a wonder he hadn't just forfeited his place preemptively to avoid the trouble of having to fight, and Temari certainly isn't a pushover if her battle with Tenten in the preliminaries is any indication.

The call for Sasuke and Gaara is the one that worries Sakura the most. The last person she'd seen Gaara fight had not only lost his life, but his corpse held more of a resemblance to a bowl of jello than a human.

Sasuke does not so much as flinch, however. Neither does Gaara.

When Shino and Kankuro are inevitably pitted against one another as the only two remaining, the three sand siblings are the first to leave. The rest of the genin follow suit to allow the Hokage to prepare the public announcement of the matches. How wonderful that all of their pain and suffering is such a great pleasure to put on display, Sakura thinks.

No part of her wants to fight Lee in a potential death match. Even her overly combative inner self is having doubts.

Before she can approach him about it, however, Naruto is dragging her down the hall, and Sakura sends a pleading look over her shoulder, urging Ino to follow. He pulls her all the way down the stairs and out the front door where Kakashi and Sasuke are waiting, and Ino is relieved to see that, finally, Sasuke greets her.

"Sakura," he nods. And then, after a short pause, "You look different."

Sakura smiles, honestly surprised that he would say something about it. "Ino took me shopping."

"That's not what I mean." His stare is critical, but not mean, and though he doesn't smile, she knows this is his best attempt at being friendly. "You look stronger."

Did the sky just fall or something? "Thank you, Sasuke. So do you."

And it's true, he does. Stronger and unkempt. His hair has grown long, his bangs now trailing just above his chin. He looks even more like a beautiful woman than he already had – not that Sakura would ever say something like that aloud.

"Neh, Sakura-chan, and what about me?!" Naruto bounces into view, puffing his chest out proudly.

He looks… the same. Same dopey smile. Same overly enthusiastic expression. If he's gotten stronger, which he no doubt has, since it's been two months, it's obscured by his baggy clothes. But, still, Sakura agrees.

"You look stronger too, Naruto."

He beams, Sasuke snorts, Naruto glares, and then Kakashi steps in to stop the fight before it happens.

"Well!" He breaks the tension with this one, cheery word. "It seems we have a lot to do over the next four days. Sasuke and I had better get back to it, considering who his opponent is. I trust both of your training is going well?"

The question is directed at Naruto and Sakura, but Kakashi's eye wanders to Ino for an answer.

"Of course, Kakashi-sensei! You should see all the things Ero-sennin taught me, he's strong even though he's a pervert, so –"

"I'm glad to hear that, Naruto," Kakashi cuts off what would no doubt have been a long and rambling rant. Naruto doesn't even look annoyed, his mind already five days away and on his upcoming battle. "And you, Sakura?"

"It's going well," she says simply. Behind her, Ino nods her head to confirm, but she can't bring herself to smile at this man.

 _You would know if you'd been around to see it_ , she thinks irritably.

But he wasn't and doesn't plan to be in the future, either. With a last piece of advice to do some research on their opponents, the bit of wisdom directed entirely at Naruto, he vanishes with Sasuke.

"It's not fair, huh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto whines. "How come Kakashi-sensei only ever trains Sasuke?"

Sakura smiles reassuringly. "I think it's because they're well-suited for each other, that's all. Besides, weren't you training with Ebisu-sensei? He's fairly skilled himself."

"Nah," Naruto scoffs. "That guy's just a perv. Well, so is my new sensei, but at least Ero-sennin can teach me some super cool stuff!"

"Ero-sennin?"

"Yeah! Well, that's what I call him – I think it suits him more than Jiraiya-sensei, what with how he's always peeking into the girl's bath."

Sakura and Ino share a look. It would be just like Naruto to not remember any of their history lessons at the academy and simply have no idea the meaning behind that name. But it couldn't be, could it?

"Jiraiya," Ino repeats. "White hair? Old guy? Friends with toads, maybe?"

"Yeah! That's the one! How'd you know?"

There is something that Sakura desperately wants to ask but can't bring herself to, and promptly, she switches places with her other self.

"Hey, does that mean you know where Tsunade-hime is?" Sakura's change in demeanor does not go unnoticed by Naruto, but he doesn't question it. He just seems happy to have her undivided attention.

"I think I've heard Ero-sennin say that name once or twice, but I don't know where she is. Why?"

"Nevermind that," Sakura dismisses it. "But listen, if you get the chance, will you ask him for me? It's important."

Naruto shrugs. "Sure! I'm meeting him at Ichiraku, so I'll ask him then. See you later, Sakura-chan, Ino!"

When he's rounded the corner and the two girls are walking back to the Yamanaka flower shop, Ino casts a glance over at Sakura. She isn't sure if they'd switched back or not since either one of them could wear such a pensive face.

"What's so important about finding Tsunade-hime?"

"Everything!" That answers that question. "Gai told me that she's the only one who can train me to use the chakra-enhanced strength. And also…"

The silence is not awkward, but it is prolonged. They sidestep the group of bumbling children in the village square, catch the whispers about the sure-to-be-legendary match between Sasuke and Gaara – _that was fast_ – and have the front door to the flower shop in sight before Ino finally loses her patience.

"And?" She prompts.

Ino catches the door that Sakura does not hold for her. The other one would have done so politely, but this one uses any excuse to pick a fight with her, not that Ino doesn't reciprocate on every single occasion. She's never minded a good bit of competition. It's actually a nice change of pace to have someone willing to butt heads with her, considering Shikamaru's laziness and Choji's docility.

It's strange how naturally her own behavior has changed to suit both of Sakura's personalities, actually, and perhaps especially considering how thoroughly it had unsettled her in the beginning. Now, reacting to the changes in behavior, both subtle and overt, is a thoughtless shift in her own perspective. She knows them both like – well, like the close friends they are.

That's why it's so unsettling to see this Sakura bite her tongue with that serious expression on her face. She still hasn't answered the question. She watches Ino pull on the uniform's apron and tie it before attending to the wilting display flowers, pulling two bouquets from the vases and gesturing to the wall to let Sakura start another. It's become something of a ritual at this point.

She expects them to switch back, since it's always the quieter of the two that's interested in acquiring any and all new knowledge, but Sakura stays put, her eyes fixed on Ino.

"Look, I know you're probably hypnotized by my infinite grace and beauty, but are you going to answer the question or not, Forehead?"

"Ha! Some kind of grace you showed earlier, prostrating yourself for Sasuke like that," Sakura snarks back easily.

"You're just jealous because you'd never have a shot with a guy like him! And showing off my beauty doesn't make me any less so, now does it?" She tilts her chin up proudly, totally prepared for the rebuttal that doesn't come.

Sakura is just staring at her. The silence feels tense and her dramatic posing makes Ino feel incredibly awkward without the banter to accompany it, and somewhere between irritated and concerned, though mostly irritated, she puts her hands on her hips and gives her best no-nonsense look.

"It's not like you to bite your tongue, Sakura."

"No," she agrees. "It's not."

"Then what's wrong?" She pushes, and when Sakura grimaces like she's considering not answering, Ino closes the distance between them and goads her, shoving a finger into the center of Sakura's forehead. "Eh? What's this? Has your infinite storage device finally run out of space?"

Thankfully, it works. Sakura swats her hand away. "Very funny, _pig_ , but unlike you, my brain isn't shallow as a roadside puddle, thank you very much."

"Well, if that's the case, then what the hell is wrong with you?"

Sakura goes rigid. Ino does not miss the strained posture; it looks, she realizes, as if Sakura is fighting herself.

( _The other half of me is being a scaredy cat, that's what_.)

 _You don't have to lie to me. You're scared too._

( _I didn't say I wasn't. I just think we should face it._ )

… _Please?_

( _Ah, damnit. Fine_.)

"For your information," Sakura finally says, her body relaxing like someone has thawed her from a block of ice, "I want to find Tsunade-hime because someday I'm going to be the best medical ninja ever!"

"You? Heal people? Maybe the other Sakura, but _you_?"

"Potato, Potahto," Sakura dismisses it. "One of us is both of us, and someday you're going to have to come begging us to patch you up!"

"You wish, Forehead! I bet you're just looking for an excuse to get your hands on me!"

"As if! If I wanted to put my hands on a pig I'd go to a farm!"

"I bet you're actually desperate enough to do that, too!"

"You're the one that should stick to your own kind! And anyway," Sakura interrupts Ino's retort. "We'd better get this flower stuff going."

#

The odd interaction in the flower shop is forgotten, and life continues on as normal. Their training with Lee and Gai lasts only one more day before Gai call it quits until after the finals, saying at this point, they're better of training alone in order to work on their individual skill sets without giving away all their secrets before it counts.

Ino is both happy and disappointed to hear that. After her botched mission and her short stay in the hospital, restarting her training under Gai had been hellish on her body, but it also felt good. As much as she hates being sweaty and bruised and unattractively disgruntled, there is something satisfying about pushing herself to her limits. Sakura, too, seems to enjoy it, and the camaraderie they'd built on their shared pains and improvements is something she'd missed.

It's not the only thing, either. The arguments, the banter, the uninvited sexual innuendo – it's safe to say that Ino would miss these things dearly if she were to lose them. It's an odd friendship, and not one built on the best premises – she does not forget for an instant the way Sakura sounded in the preliminaries, the desperation on her face, the gritted declaration, " _I hate you_ ," or the oceans of pain that pushed it out of her mouth – but its strangeness does not diminish it any. For all that she and the fiery Sakura push each other to their furthest limits in their endless competitiveness, the gentler one reminds them both that it's all in good fun.

The compliments don't hurt either. There is nothing quite like having someone constantly there to flatter your every move, Ino thinks happily, often finding herself bathing in Sakura's open admiration. After graduating from the Academy, she hadn't gotten very much of that. It's refreshing to be so utterly appreciated.

But.

She hates that there's a "but."

It's a small thing, really. Not worth worrying over. It's just that, when Sakura recounts her impromptu training session with Kakashi and asks Ino to join her ninjutsu training, and Ino does, Inner Sakura manages to turn the leaf in her palm into a withered husk, and then Sakura reforms it into its original shape. Ino only manages to draw enough water to make it wrinkle after three days of practice.

It's not exactly a fair comparison considering Sakura's inherently superior chakra control. Ino's is impressive in its own right, and she's fully aware that she's beaten the usual timeline of progress by even getting this far in the exercise so quickly, but she can't deny the little spark of jealousy when Sakura clutches her fingers around the pile of dust and unfurls them to expose the reformed leaf-shape. The envy abates somewhat when she gasps and immediately looks to Ino for approval, as if the success were meaningless without it. Ino suspects that, if she chose to belittle it, Sakura would believe that to be the case, and she vehemently squashes the petty thought.

"Good job," she says earnestly, meeting Sakura's wide eyes. "That's amazing!"

"Do you really think so? I mean, it doesn't feel like much, but…"

Ino smiles, tipping Sakura's chin up to raise her eyes from the floor. "Don't be silly, Sakura. This exercise normally takes twice as long. You should be proud."

Sakura bites her lip to try and keep her smile in human proportions, but it doesn't quite work and she grins, ear to ear, as she leans forward and wraps her arms around the other girl. "Thank you, Ino! Maybe someday I'll be as good as you."

It's not a jab. Ino knows that. But the weight of the leaf in her own palm, still flexible with its hydrated tissue, feels heavy as stone.

* * *

#

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	12. Showtime

Chapter 11

"Showtime"

...

Sakura and Ino stand in the competitor's balcony as Naruto and Neji fight in the ring below.

It's a hot, sunny day, the arena like a walled heat conductor as the brutal battle within its confines is waged. The waiting contestants observe in the shade of the coliseum's roof, whispering quiet remarks about the outcome of the fight, but Sakura is too busy trying not to throw up to contribute. Even as Naruto emerges victorious to the baffled and excited cries of the unruly crowd, she can hardly offer more emotion than a slight twinge of pride on his behalf.

He really has gotten stronger.

Now, Sakura hopes that Sasuke's assessment of her turns out to be true, too.

"I don't think I can do this," Sakura whispers, her eyes trailing over the people, the rows and rows and rows of people, the many, many, _many too many oh my god there are so many people_ –

Who even knew Konoha's population was this big? The queasy feeling in her stomach escalates as she tries to imagine herself in the center of that ring, enduring the undivided and judgmental stares of hundreds of people, civilians, and peers, and genin, and likely hidden amongst the crowd, the faces of her old tormentors. They would no doubt be here too, and she has no illusions that despite Lee's unpopularity, she is the one they want to watch get driven to the ground.

She wants to be invisible. She wants to disappear. Hell, even death sounds preferable to this, and almost instinctively, her chakra flares, begging to cast the genjutsu that will hide her from this special kind of torture.

"Sakura," Ino's voice is soothing but firm. "You _can_ do this. You've been training for two months, and Lee is going to be there with you."

"But – but as my opponent!"

"And as your friend," she reminds her gently. "No matter what happens, the two of you are still friends at the end of the day. Fighting him won't change that."

 _How do you know?_ Sakura wants to ask, but she doesn't because it's a stupid question. Ino always knows.

"I'm going to lose," she says instead, so quietly that her voice nearly dissipates in the chatter of the crowd.

Ino is less prepared to comfort her on that end. She isn't _positive_ that Sakura will lose – she has, after all, been there for nearly every day of Sakura's training with Gai and Lee, right by her side and enduring the gauntlet of exercises, dripping the same blood and sweat. Sakura has improved vastly and isn't a pushover by any means.

But, then again, neither is Lee. He's been there for every practice too, and Lee's skills are nearly inhuman. Sakura, on the other hand, is certainly human, and while the fiery half of her will drive herself to her limits to win this competition, the quieter side is not nearly so worried about victory. That side is more concerned with survival than anything else, but then, she's also oddly unwilling to give up, no matter the pain or the terrible odds.

Speculating won't help anyway, Ino decides. The point is that Sakura is terrified and that's hardly a good way to step into a fight.

"You're going to do great," Ino smiles, putting her hand on Sakura's shoulder even as her stomach clenches in sympathetic anxiety. She has no desire to watch her get torn up and beaten, and though Lee is definitely their friend, his competitive drive and dedication to no-holds-barred honorable combat will ensure that he won't go easy on her. Ino tries her damndest to banish the image of the bruised and bloodied Sakura she'd fought in the preliminaries.

"And no matter what happens," she finishes, "I'll be rooting for you. Just don't tell that to Lee."

She punctuates the statement with a playful wink. Sakura manages to smile back.

It's true that she's horrified by this situation and doesn't have a strong investment in winning, but Sakura has no intention of giving up, either. The nightmarish fear, the inevitable pain, the anxiety… none of it is a good enough excuse. It's nothing, she reminds herself, and especially not when Ino is expecting her to put up a good fight.

If Ino believes in her, then Sakura will just have to believe in herself.

"Good luck," she hears Ino call as she jumps over the railing, landing gracefully in the arena below, and just as she'd expected, the hundreds and hundreds of eyes focused on her freeze her in place.

They can't all be laughing at her… can they? That wouldn't make sense, would it? But that's how they appear to her. Their mouths are open in mocking laughter, their eyes darkened by the shadow of the awning over their heads, their fingers pointing, waiting for her to fail, to make a fool of herself, and Sakura can feel the panic surging through her. Her knees tremble. Her hands quiver. Her teeth are grit painfully and she can't for the life of her move her feet.

Up in the stands, Ino is mentally urging her to step forward, to fake the confidence, at least. But it's not like Sakura doesn't have a reason to be scared. Even beyond having to fight Lee, the stage fright is far more terrifying.

"Are you kidding me?" She hears the group of snickering genin below her in the stands. "How the hell did someone like her get past the second exam, anyway?"

She recognizes the kids from the Academy. Ino _accidentally_ drops a kunai, pointy end down, that sticks to his seat about an inch in front of his crotch.

The guy freezes and looks up at her, opening his mouth to shout an insult no doubt, and Ino grips the railing and prepares to jump down there to give him a piece of her mind.

All Sakura has ever done is try to _exist_. What right does this idiot have to criticize her?

The anger mingles with the leftover guilt – _it wouldn't be like this if I'd done something; this time, I will_ – and her foot's on the railing when Shikamaru stops her.

"You don't want to start a brawl and get kicked out, do you?"

Reluctantly, Ino pulls herself back.

"Come on, Sakura!" She screams, her height in the competitor's balcony allowing her voice to carry over the crowd. Shikamaru winces and covers his ear at the volume. "KICK SOME ASS!"

So much for not letting Lee know. But, ah well. She's sure he'd understand.

The ringing cheer reaches Sakura's ears and she straightens abruptly. She looks up over her shoulder to see Ino grinning confidently at her from up in the balcony, and with a deep breath, she bites down the panic pumping her heart a mile a minute and steps to the center of the arena. Lee is waiting for her.

"Sakura-san!" He greets her, smiling amicably. There is an undeniable competitive edge to his expression, though. "It brings me no greater joy than to do battle with such a skilled opponent, and one of Gai-sensei's pupils, no less. I am sure we will both make him proud."

Sakura surprises herself by finding the strength to respond. "Just Sakura," she says.

Lee blinks confusedly. "Sakura?"

"Yes. Even if we're fighting, we're friends more than opponents. I think it's about time we drop formalities."

Elated, Lee jumps up, dropping back down into his stance. He's practically vibrating with enthusiasm. "I agree, Sakura! No matter what happens, let us both agree: no hard feelings."

"Agreed," she smiles, and then takes a backseat for her other half to step in.

Oddly, it's not Hayate proctoring the exam anymore, but the man is always coughing. Perhaps his illness finally got the better of him and he had to stay home.

She doesn't have long to think about it. Genma drops his hand, signaling the start of the match, and Lee is on her in an instant.

He opens with a twirling kick aimed at her side. Her block is less a block than a punch strong enough to shatter bone – it's something she's come up with in the last few days, after Gai temporarily ended their training. Instead of catching and pulling, she realized that she could simply use her opponent's power against them, meeting their strikes with double their force in order to vastly increase the damage. Theoretically, it's a sound strategy. Her opponents could hardly lay a hand on her without risking a broken limb.

When her fist hits his leg, however, she's surprised to feel not the crunch of bone, but the unforgiving force of steel underneath his leg warmers. She feels the material dent under her knuckles and then Lee is swinging his body in the other direction, moving with the force of her punch away from her, and Sakura makes a hasty exit to the shallow tree cover on the sidelines.

"Impressive, Sakura! If I had not worn my training weights, that would have incapacitated my left leg!"

It's a nice compliment, but all Sakura can think is, ( _He's wearing_ _ **weights**_ _?!_ )

She can practically feel any chances at victory slipping through her fingers, but neither part of her is willing to forfeit.

They still have one advantage, after all, and Sakura strongly suspects these matches aren't about winning anyway, if what the Sandaime said during the preliminaries is any indication. This is all for show - and that much, she can do.

In a few seconds, Lee is zipping through the tree coverage, searching for her, and finds her crouched in a corner. She makes a run for the center of the arena. He follows, and his superior speed puts him in range to strike just as she clears the sidelines, drawing his fist back to land a punch to her abdomen –

Only to have her disappear.

When did she get that fast?

The brief thought barely has enough time to surface before he hears his shoulder crack audibly. Her fist collides with the back of his left side hard enough to send him spinning through the air, and when he turns to launch himself at her, she's already gone.

"I see your speed has improved, Sakura!" He shouts to the empty space. Lee clenches his fingers, willing the numbness in his left arm to disappear. It's not broken, thankfully, but the force of the blow sent tremors all the way to his fingertips.

Scanning the arena, he finds her grinning at him from the center.

"I don't plan on making this easy for you," she boasts, dropping into her stance.

"I would expect nothing less!"

He comes at her again, a whirlwind of limbs and strikes, disappearing from vision in his speed and coming down on her back hard to land a drop kick –

Only, there's no one there.

"What is…?"

He watches, absolutely befuddled, as the ground beneath his feet morphs into a distinctly Sakura-type-shape which rises to land a solid uppercut to his chin. Lee rights himself quickly enough to see it – the change in expression from fierce to apologetic, and then she disappears again.

Genjutsu.

"I should have known," he says to himself, the swell of pride in his chest pushing a smile to his lips. "Very clever."

But how to figure out what's real and what isn't?

He can dispel the illusions now that he's noticed them, but Sakura's invisibility genjutsu, so long as she casts it only on herself, is a trickier one. Since it's a technique triggered by glancing at her body, there's no way to see through it for longer than a blink before she warps into nonexistence again. The only advantage he has in this regard is that he's fairly certain she won't hit him while invisible. That would be the job of the other Sakura.

Their switching has gotten incredibly fast, he notes, tensing at the strange ripple of air in the distance.

But, no – her genjutsu is too well-practiced to be so obvious to him, and instinctively, he twirls around, shoving his leg behind him in a back kick and is pleased to feel his foot connect with something solid.

And then he frowns because that something solid is a hand that's wrapping around his ankle.

Sakura pulls him toward herself with something that can only be described as a war cry, launching her fist at his face, and he ducks quickly, twisting his body to ram his elbow into her sternum.

Winded, she releases his leg and hops back.

"Nice," she offers, wheezing, and he leaps at her but not quickly enough. She vanishes again.

The crowd, now, is starting to murmur their surprise. As poorly as Lee might have been regarded by his classmates, no one would argue with his skill. The fact that Sakura is holding their own is no doubt resulting in some very disgruntled gamblers.

Ino sees the confused looks, the sneers, the scowls. Serves them right, she thinks.

Sakura, meanwhile, is too busy calculating her odds to notice. Her advantage will decrease the longer the battle lasts. Lee hardly has to use chakra to perform, while hers is being drained with every subtle illusion and chakra-enhanced strike, not to mention the mental fatigue involved.

( _All or nothing_ ), her inner voice offers.

 _You're right. Sixty seconds_ , she answers, _and then go_.

The battleground is perfectly still. Lee's eyes dart around the empty space, waiting tensely for her offensive. If the pattern holds, the first will be an illusion and the second will be the real one, but Lee remembers their first sparring match when Gai had tasked Sakura with hitting him once, and she'd succeeded. He can't rely on simple patterns with her. Especially not when he's fighting two people.

High above the battleground, Ino is brittle with tension. Sakura's strategy is working, but Lee is no where near his maximum effort, and she comes to the same conclusion that Sakura does. The longer the battle, the lower her chances of winning it, and as much as she dislikes doubting her friend, she can't help the anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

 _Can Sakura really do this? I know she's good, but…_ Ino can't forget the Sakura whose hair she'd cut in her flower shop two months ago. The fragile, emotionally vulnerable, mentally unstable Sakura that clung to life by a single stubborn thread, who'd needed Ino like plants need sunlight, and she bites her tongue at the worry flooding her.

If Lee goes all out, Sakura will get hurt. That is inevitable.

Maybe it will be okay though, she tells herself. After all, Sakura has gotten stronger, faster, better at genjutsu and switching personalities – _without my help, really_ , comes the annoyed, bitter thought that she squashes like an ant under her heel. Now is not the time for petty jealousies.

On the battlefield, Sakura's hands are wrapped tightly in the ram seal, molding chakra in preparation. She has practiced this only once, but the steady building of chakra is a comfort.

 _I think I can do this_.

( _I know you can_.)

Her chakra flares. Lee perks up, his eyes scanning the battleground, but he finds nothing. There are little pocketed explosions of energy all around him, as spread out and numerous as a cloud of lightening bugs, but there is nothing to accompany them, just empty air…

… _Now!_

And just like that, the invisible pockets of energy suddenly morph, warping into existence to expose two-dozen Sakuras standing around him with cocky grins. Lee blinks in surprise, overwhelmed by awe, pride, and something else that's far more youthful at the sight of being surrounded by so many of his beautiful blossoms…

No time to dwell on that, though.

The first one charges at him – _but surely she would not send them one at a time?_ – but as his fist connects with her stomach, he watches, horrified, as his hand shoots straight through her torso and out the other side.

"Ah – S-Sakura!"

His heart drops like a stone. His blood runs cold as he watches her choke, her fingers wrapped around his wrists, loosening as her eyes turn opaque in the cloudiness of death, her face twisted in agony…

And then she disappears.

He might have been upset that she would use such a graphic illusion, but he quickly understands – she'd sent the first one in alone so that he would know the results weren't real. It was a friendly warning.

It didn't make the visual any less disturbing, but at least now he's willing to fight them.

"I see," he says seriously, reaching down to undo the weights around his ankles. He lifts them to chest height and drops them – a friendly warning of his own.

Sakura is only mildly surprised to see them crack the hard earth below as if they weighed half a ton. Who knows? They really might, knowing Lee...

"Time to get serious!" The Sakuras shout, not at all perturbed. "You ready, Lee?"

"Yes, Sakura! I am ready when you are!"

It's a rather disgusting battle to behold. The bunshin are the simple illusory kind, but each is layered with genjutsu that melts them around his limbs as he strikes, the deaths gruesome and bloody and nerve wracking even knowing they aren't real. Even though it doesn't slow him down much, Lee still finds himself having to focus to keep from being sick in the middle of the battle.

To make matters more confusing, the real Sakura hides amongst them, and it's only by the sheer speed of his reflexes that he dodges her strikes rather than attempts to counter them as he does with the clones. The illusions are well crafted, but there is something subtle but distinct distinguishing the real Sakura, an amount of power that the clones can't replicate.

The crowd is absolutely riotous now. Ino watches, slack-jawed and absolutely disgusted with the rest of them, as her friend dies a dozen deaths in front of her.

 _It's not real it's not real it's not real –_ her brain repeats it like a mantra, but it hardly helps the queasiness in her stomach. Couldn't Sakura have contained that to just Lee's brain instead of casting the illusion directly on her clones?!

But, of course, then he'd only have to disrupt his chakra to see through them, and underneath all of her emotional turbulence and disgust at the macabre vision before her, Ino is impressed. She's impressed with the quality and number of illusions, with the fact that Sakura has learned the difficult art of layering, that she's skilled enough to come up with and execute this plan despite all of her overwhelming fears, and that when Lee kicks one Sakura in half and dodges the dropkick of the one coming down on him with an ear-splitting,

" _Shannaro!_ "

The crater her heel leaves in the ground is two meters wide.

"Holy crap," Naruto shouts from beside her. "Is that really Sakura-chan?!"

"Of course," Ino replies hotly, hiding her envy underneath indignation and her respect for Sakura's skills.

She's had this bitter taste in her mouth too many times now, and she hates it. Ino has never been jealous of _anyone_.

There are only six Sakuras left. It's clear that Lee is going to win. Seeming to have recognized this, the looks on both of their faces are more amused than competitive, like two friends having a good time sparring while catching up on old times, if you manage to disregard all the gore…

Sakura – the real one – flies through the unified charge of her clones, her fist jerking forward, but not quickly enough to catch Lee. He sidesteps the strike and her fist lands in the wall behind him, impacting the concrete side of the stadium as if it were clay, rumbling the stands of the now cheering spectators.

The other six clones having been dispersed, Lee is immediately behind her, pinning her arms above her head in a tactical hold that she could probably break with her little finger, and they both know it, but instead, Sakura uses one last trick up her sleeve.

Ino isn't really sure what's going on until she's _completely_ certain that she knows _exactly_ what's going on. She watches with pursed lips and an embarrassed sigh as Sakura bends, or more like _arches_ , her body, just _so_ , and Lee tenses as if someone's filled his arteries with cement. Sakura looks over her shoulder with slanted eyes and a coy smile that Ino really had no idea she could pull off, but she certainly does, and Sakura whispers something –

And Lee drops to the floor.

"Oy, is Bushy Brows gonna be okay?" Naruto asks obliviously, referring to Lee's hemorrhaging nose. "I didn't even see Sakura-chan hit him…"

The crowd, baffled, goes quiet enough to hear Genma's countdown, but Sakura lifts her hand, her eyes leaking with mirthful tears, and manages to bite down her laughter long enough to speak.

"It's alright, Genma-san, I lost this one. That was a cheap trick." She hauls Lee to his unsteady feet. "He could've beaten me at any time."

Genma's smirk is less than professional. He's clearly as amused as she is. "Is that a resignation?"

"Yes," Sakura confirms. "I forfeit."

"Alright, then. Winner: Rock Lee."

The crowd cheers despite the strange ending. The rest of the battle apparently provided enough entertainment to forgive the forfeit. Lee is clutching his nose and still looks woozy, but when Sakura holds out her hand, he regains some lucidity and wraps his fingers around hers in a firm grasp.

"You're awesome, Lee. Thanks for giving me a chance."

"Not at all, Sakura," Lee's answer is nasally, but sincere. "Your skills are impressive. I have no doubt that someday we will stand on equal footing."

When they exit the arena, Lee excuses himself, probably to clean up the blood on his face in the bathroom, and Sakura scales the stairs at a near sprint to reach Ino on the balcony. The excitement of her fight is still thrumming through her.

She leaps forward, landing perfectly balanced on the railing, and faces Ino squarely.

"So? What do you think? Was I badass, or what?"

The question is "asked" more like a statement, but Ino isn't fooled by the bravado. There is a certain vulnerability in the slight waver of her smile that Ino doesn't miss, or the way her eyes flicker to the railing when Ino doesn't immediately answer, and despite her odd and unwanted jealousy, the sight is endearing enough to soothe the envy.

 _I'm just being ridiculous_ , Ino thinks. Maybe Sakura has more of an affinity for some things, but this is an area where she's still completely clueless, and even though empathy isn't as flashy a skill as chakra-enhanced strength, it is a skill nonetheless.

Besides, it's rather heartwarming, seeing the usually competitive, brash Sakura so clearly self-conscious in her pursuit of Ino's approval.

"It was _pretty_ badass," Ino says offhandedly. Much to her amusement, Sakura perks up immediately. "But I could still kick your butt."

"Ha! You wish, pig! Anytime, anywhere!"

Ino leans forward, meeting the challenge. "Right here, right now, Forehead!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

They're both grabbing each other's collars at this point, close enough to see the shine of laughter in each other's eyes, and it's Sakura that drops Ino first.

"Ah, you know what? I'll have mercy today. I'm feeling tired, anyway."

"Oh, yeah, I bet that last technique took a lot out of you."

"Not as much as it took out of Lee."

Ino laughs, glad to regain her footing with Sakura as they watch Temari and Shikamaru take their places.

"Touché."

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	13. Words Are Worse

**A/N** : Thanks as usual, everyone! The next chapter should be up tomorrow or Friday. Happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 12

"Sticks and Stones Break Bones; Words Are Worse"

...

Everything was going well until it wasn't anymore. And when it stopped going well, it went really, _really_ badly. Life-altering badly.

It started when Gaara wrapped himself in sand, when Sasuke stabbed through it and injured him, and when he'd let out a roar loud enough to rattle the whole stadium. It's not a noise a human could make.

Then came the sleepiness, the sort of drowsy one feels while reading a book in bed, when your eyes start closing of their own accord. Sakura and Ino, eyes half-lidded, share a look of mutual understanding. They are both too well versed in genjutsu to let it overtake them, but breaking it puts them in no better of a position.

The chaos is immediate. The death begins just as quickly. Sakura does the only thing she can think to do – she cloaks herself and Ino.

It's not a perfect solution, though; it works because they're sitting right next to each other. It had worked on her clones through replication, because the clones were a type of genjutsu themselves, but as soon as she and Ino part, Sakura knows the illusion will fail. She is not yet good enough to maintain it on two different, human, and moving targets.

She communicates this to Ino through a silent look. They mutually, though mostly from fear, decide not to move. Both girls watch in a paralyzed fascination as ninja swarm the stands – Sand and Leaf and Sound erupt with a clash of kunai on kunai, kunai on throats, kunai impaled in chests. Their allies are dying around them. There are too many enemies for the few Konoha jounin amongst the stands to keep an eye on all of them, and Sakura and Ino take in the nauseating sight of a few sound-nin maneuvering through the stands, slitting the throats of those still sleeping.

It's so absolutely baffling, the way things have erupted with a snap of someone's fingers, that they both freeze helplessly, looking at each other, and it's Sakura that comes to first. She has seen death before, though on a smaller scale than this, but she moves anyway – because she has to, because people are dying, because the fear weighing her down like a leaden coat is nothing compared to the finality of death. The fear of losing Ino outweighs all others.

"Fight or run," Sakura whispers, her voice easily covered by the clamor of fighting. "I trust you. Your choice."

Her words snap Ino back into the realm of the conscious. She looks at the corpses, considering, but this time it's a calculated thought and not one solely seen through the fogged lens of confused terror. Her eyes drift to her right, to Choji who is still sleeping, and then to the rows and rows of helpless people. Ninja. Civilians. Some of them are children.

Ino's reply is firm. "Fight."

"Do we wake them?" Sakura gestures at the unconscious rows of spectators, but Ino shakes her head.

"No. They'll only create panic – most of them aren't ninja. They'd just get themselves and others killed. If we want to save them –" she pauses here, as if to make sure that this horrific option is the only one, and Sakura's admiration swells at Ino's thoroughness, at her surety, "If we want to save them, we have to eliminate the enemies. At least the ones in the stands. From there, the chunin and jounin will know what to do."

Sakura hesitates, but only briefly. She wants to ask, what if she just gets in the way, too? They're only genin, and the more experienced shinobi might attempt to protect them, maybe even get distracted – maybe even lose their own lives trying. But looking around at the scenes of war – and it could only be called that now – she thinks that might be wishful thinking. There is no time for concern in rank here. They are all equal, all soldiers. All willing to die for their country.

Today, that conviction will be put to the test.

The loyalty is drilled into her. Sakura does not question it, for now. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. Focus on assisting."

"Okay, on your move."

Ino tenses, but before she leaps out of the safety of Sakura's cloak, she whispers, "Tell your other half to consider it a challenge. Whoever takes down the most targets, wins."

( _Hell yeah! It's a deal!_ )

"It's a deal," Sakura repeats. Her voice does not reflect the hurt in her chest, but it's not important and now is not the time to dwell on the fact that Ino doesn't consider her competition – that she, in fact, isn't.

Ino takes a spare second to wake Choji, warning him to stay down, and then leaps out from the stands and straight for a Konoha-nin struggling on his back, the kunai of an enemy held an inch above his face against his straining hands. She gives the sound-nin a furious kick in the stomach. Her ally glances at her briefly before jumping atop the enemy and slicing him from ear to ear.

Ino doesn't even blink. She can't. A moment to let herself think about what she's doing, what she's causing, could be the moment she loses her own life.

Sakura watches this happen and absorbs that strength. If Ino thinks that she can do it, then maybe she can, even if it's mostly not really her, she reminds herself of the sore point. Still cloaked, she stealthily makes her way to the back of the bleachers where a Leaf jounin is engaging two enemies, a third sneaking up from behind him. She jumps forward, predicting his movement to throw her body directly into his trajectory, and let's her inner self take over mid-leap.

She makes quick work of him. One punch sends him flying into the wall. The back of his head connects with the concrete and makes a noise like a giant spit ball, and when his body falls, it leaves a splatter of blood at the site of impact, a line of brilliant red fluid smattered with something darker trailing beneath it.

( _Did I just - ?!_ )

 _Don't think about it._

Sakura does, though. Her fists fall to her sides, her mind a repeating mantra of,( _I can't believe I just, I can't believe I just, I can't -_ )

The sand-nin is slack-jawed, crumpled on the floor. His eyes are blank. She can tell from here that he isn't breathing.

He's dead. Dead, dead, dead dead dead dead –

 _Sakura! Stop it!_

( _How can you say that? I just – he just –_ )

 _I know_ , her voice is shaky, but firm. _But there's no time. Look around you. Do you think that your disgust outweighs what the people around you are feeling? The jounin here have fought and killed far more times than we have. We have no right to complain._

Slowly, Sakura's fingers curl back into fists, as if testing her own strength. Her shoulders relax from their hunched posture, and the tension of her emotions unwinds slightly.

( _It's just like you to belittle my feelings. But I understand._ )

They can philosophize about life, and death, and how the world around them came to function on the notion that "might makes right" – but only later.

They continue through the stands, swapping places, dodging and catching strikes, pushing each other. When Inner Sakura's hand splatters through the jaw of an enemy nin, the other Sakura turns their head away. She forces their attention to the next target rather than the mutilated corpse of their last. Every spare moment is dedicated to checking on Ino, trying not to lose her in the fray, but those are few and far between. And risky.

While scanning the stadium in search of a long blond ponytail, she's nearly skewered by a kunai. It cuts through her shirt and into her shoulder before she manages to twist herself around, the weapon still lodged in her back. She delivers a vicious uppercut to the enemy's chin. No sooner than when her fist makes impact, a sound-nin jumps from the bleachers, flinging shurikan that she dodges just barely. He strikes at her with a slanted half-sword, and she swings her arm out, catching him in the elbow with as much force as she can muster.

It's a lot. His joint bends downward, cracking like a brittle stick. Before he can even finish screaming, she kicks him down only to feel the presence of two others at her back that she can't turn around in time to meet.

One catches her just below her ribs. The pain rips through her like every nerve is singed and still smoldering, swiping her breath from her lungs. The other shoots out his leg, kicking her in the thigh. Her knee bends at an awkward angle and forces her body further along the line of the knife in her side.

There isn't even time to feel the resignation of death before both nin are suddenly dead on the ground.

Kakashi glances at her from over his shoulder, his eyes flickering between the enemies leaping through the fray and then amongst her new injuries.

"Sakura," he says it like they've just caught each other shopping at the same store. "I see you've been busy."

"Something like that," she says between gritted teeth, her hand clamped around the wound in her side. "Should I pull this out?"

He turns to face her. There's apparently time for that now. In the beginning, it had seemed like for every enemy she'd taken down, two more appeared out of nowhere. Now, she can tell they're beginning to thin. It would've been a better indicator of the tide of the battle if not for the fact that most of the real fight is taking place elsewhere. Presumably somewhere around those giant snakes in the distance.

( _Wait…_ )

 _Orochimaru_ , her other self confirms.

"I think you'll have to for this mission. Can you wrap it?"

Sakura is already untying the extra bandages around her thigh to do just that. It's an awkward bend with the short blade still impaled in her side, and she feels her skin tear in the process, opening the wound further. She can only hope it's not poisoned.

 _Pull it out first._

( _Can't think. This fucking_ _ **hurts**_ _._ )

 _Let me._

She doesn't argue. Kakashi watches disinterestedly – or at least that's the look on his face – as her grimace immediately relaxes into careful neutrality.

"What's the mission, Kakashi-sensei?" She asks.

He waits for her to finish before answering. With a deep, steadying breath, she grasps the handle of the blade, careful to keep the angle straight as she rips it out in one smooth motion, the half-serrated edge catching on her flesh and tearing.

She cannot help the tensing of her muscles as every fiber of her being sings with pain. Other than that, there is no outward sign.

"Are you going to be alright?"

She nods, letting out the breath she'd been holding in a steady stream as she unwraps the bandages from her leg and winds them quickly around her side.

"It's nothing. What's the mission?"

He stares at her for a moment longer before answering. "Naruto and Shikamaru are unconscious against the far wall. Break the genjutsu and wake them both. Right now, Sasuke is chasing Gaara and his team – they're heading west. I want you all to go after them."

"And do what?"

Kakashi blinks slowly. He hadn't been expecting that response. "To back him up. I don't know what he's trying to do, but regardless of his intention, he's not strong enough to face those three on his own. The sand-nin are also our enemies now. They might be planning something, and every action here counts more than ever. If they intend to harm the village, I want you and your team to stop them, if possible."

"Shouldn't we bring more people then? I mean, those guys – they're strong, and Gaara is…" A monster. She doesn't need to say so for Kakashi to understand.

"Bringing more people will only slow down your movements and make it more difficult to hide, if need be. It'll have to be just you three –"

"Ino," Sakura interrupts. "I – she'll be helpful. She and Shikamaru are better when they're working together."

 _And I won't go without her_ , she doesn't say, but again, Kakashi doesn't need her to speak the thought aloud to understand. He gives her a long, calculating look, but he doesn't argue.

He nicks his thumb with the edge of a kunai and forms a series of rapid seals, pushing his hand into the back of a slumped over civilian. A cloud of smoke appears, and in it, to Sakura's bewilderment, is a small pug.

"Pakkun will track Sasuke by scent. Get Ino and move quickly – remember your objectives. This is an A-rank retrieval and support mission. Avoid unnecessary confrontation wherever you can, and Sakura?"

He knows she's listening already. This is his way of telling her that this is serious, more serious than anything she's had to face so far.

"Yes, sensei?"

"Do not, at any point, let yourselves get separated. You're facing enemies whose rank and experience surpasses yours. Don't forget that."

"I understand."

Kakashi leaps off without another word, leaving Sakura and Pakkun to stare at each other curiously.

"I'll get Ino," Sakura says slowly. It feels strange to be talking to a dog. "Meet me by Naruto and Shikamaru."

"How brave of you to give me orders right off the bat," the dog replies in a startlingly deep voice. "But I'll agree to it. Be quick."

That's the plan. Sakura cloaks herself and weaves her way through the fights, searching for Ino, and finds her tangling with a sound-nin. He's forcing her backwards toward the wall, and from here, Sakura can see that one of her shoulders is set awkwardly, though she still manages to wrap both hands around her opponent's arm. Sakura lunges forward, switching again mid-air, and hits him with a flying kick that contorts his body around her foot and sends him flying.

The wound in her side rips with the twist of her body, and immediately, they switch back. The blood has soaked through the bandage and drips steadily down to the hem of her pants. Sakura rights herself and grabs Ino by the wrist, leading her towards the back of the stadium.

"I'm glad you're okay," she says before anything else. Ino gives her a strange look.

"Of course I am."

"A-ah, right, I'm sorry," Sakura mumbles. "Kakashi-sensei pulled me aside. We have a mission."

"A mission? Right _now_?"

They step over the limp bodies along the stairs as if they're debris and not corpses. Even in the short course of their battle, in the heat of urgency, it's become easier to tolerate the peculiarities of life, and death, and the thin line separating the two. But just a little.

"Wake Naruto and Shikamaru, follow Sasuke, who is chasing after Gaara and his team. Support and retrieval – we're supposed to bring Sasuke back alive, and if necessary, stop Gaara and his team from carrying out whatever they have planned, if anything. Kakashi-sensei didn't seem to be sure if it was a necessary retreat or a tactical one."

Ino listens quietly. The fact that Kakashi-sensei has ordered four genin to go on what must be an A-rank mission means that the situation is far more dire than she anticipated – and she already thought that it couldn't get much worse, what with the giant snakes and the huge barrier surrounding the Hokage. Apparently, she'd been wrong.

Learning about the Great Ninja Wars of the past had always felt like being told a story, with heroes and bad guys and Konoha's victories to outweigh the casualties. Now, she isn't sure why the thought of full-scale war had ever seemed so far off. Not when it'd caught up to them in a mere instant and exploded like a bomb that had always somehow been in range. It's something she knows now and won't forget.

War can happen anytime, anywhere, and in an instant.

Sakura reaches for Naruto, tapping his back to break the genjutsu, and shoves him out of the way of a stray kunai as he tries to sit up.

"Sakura-chan, what –"

"The village is under attack, we –"

"Shikamaru!" Ino's growl is loud and intimidating enough to pause them both in spite of the situation. "You lazy asshole!"

Her fist comes down on his head. He jolts upright. "Ow! Ino, what the hell are you –"

"What the hell am _I_ doing? What the hell are _you_ doing! We're in the middle of a damn war and you're trying to pretend to sleep?!"

Sakura and Naruto look at each other, and then at Shikamaru, who stares back, clearly annoyed.

"I didn't want to get involved. I figured someone would form a squad to go after Sasuke, and I'm not exactly invested in his wellbeing."

Ino's hand curls into a fist again, but before she can reply, Gai-sensei flies up the stairs. His fist catches the enemy-nin sneaking up on them, sending him into the wall, and then through it. Kakashi follows shortly behind.

"Head out through that hole. Once you've completed your mission, await your next orders in a safe place. Sakura will explain on the way."

Naruto looks like he's about to protest, but Ino grabs him and Shikamaru both before he can get a word in. She darts out from the wall and quickly bounds toward the forest.

"Hey. Sakura," Pakkun nips at her ankle. "You didn't even introduce me."

"I'm sorry. I'll do that en route," she apologizes, reaching down to stroke his fur. His silky, smooth, luxurious fur… "So soft…" she mutters.

"Hm. At least you have good taste. As a reward, I'll explain my beauty regimen along the way. I can see from the dryness of your hair that you're using the wrong shampoo for your strand type. Now, let's go."

It must really say something about her, Sakura thinks, that she needs to get beauty advice from a dog.

#

"What the hell was Sasuke thinking?"

Ino is angry. Livid, in fact. Hotness be damned, no amount of good looks could excuse doing something as reckless as what Sasuke has done, an action totally inconsiderate of the situation, of the lives being lost, of the lives now at risk to cover for his mistake. Her life. Shikamaru's, Naruto's. Sakura's.

And for what? Even though she'd asked the question, she already knows the answer. It's no secret that Sasuke's biggest motivation in life is to prove his strength, and he apparently thinks that besting Gaara in a now defunct exam will do that. At this moment, with blood on her hands, and an injured shoulder, and her exhausted teammates, it's hard to remember why she'd ever found that attractive.

"Don't worry," Naruto shouts through the wind whistling past their ears. "We'll get him back and punch some sense into him together."

"I like the way you think, Naruto."

Never in her life did she imagine she'd like anything Naruto did more than anything Sasuke did.

But, then again, she thinks, the battle tension still heavy on her shoulders, times have changed.

She falls back in line with Sakura, who is looking worse for wear and covering it up expertly. Asking her if she's alright will be pointless, and besides, she's still moderately offended that Sakura apparently feels the need to check on her. Like she's someone that needs to be looked after.

Like she's weak.

"How many did you get?" She asks.

It takes Sakura a moment to understand that Ino isn't talking to _her_. The comprehension stings.

"Eight," she answers anyway.

Ino's jaw flexes almost imperceptibly. "Five."

( _Ha! Let's trade so I can gloat!_ )

 _Now isn't the time_.

For whatever reason, Ino is obviously upset about it. More than their usual competitiveness calls for, anyway, and Sakura almost tells her that five is still five more than she'd gotten, but then she remembers that she doesn't even count. She hadn't even been considered strong enough to compete at all. She reminds herself that's because she isn't.

They fly through the branches of the forest lining Konoha's western edge in a stiff silence. It's distinctly unnatural. They haven't been uncomfortable around each other since they started training with Gai, and the disquiet roils in Sakura's gut with a life of its own. She wants to ask what's wrong but doesn't dare – if Ino wants her to know, she'll tell her.

Minutes pass with nothing but the sound of their feet thumping quietly against the trees, and then Pakkun picks up his speed, the rest of the team following suit.

"Are we getting close or something?" Naruto asks from the lead, his voice carrying back to the rest of the team.

"No," Pakkun replies flatly. "He's moving quickly, but there are enemies on our tail. Eight – no, nine people following us in two squads. Chuunin, probably. Maybe one jounin if we're unlucky."

The news silences the team for an entirely different reason than social awkwardness. A tentative plan is discussed, an ambush out-ruled, a diversionary tactic decided upon. In other words, bait.

"It's not just that simple, either," Shikamaru's says dryly. "There's a high chance that whoever stays behind will die."

That is a given. Any one of them could die at any point, just like the enemies that lost their lives at their hands – any of them could've been killed, easily, back in the stadium, let alone against two squads of presumably superior shinobi. They stop abruptly, each glancing at the other. Naruto's head is hung and his fists clenched. Sakura knows he will be the first to volunteer and the last that should actually take the position for an ambush. Regardless of his survivability, he's too brash, too quick to action, and he's the only one among them who holds any sway with Sasuke at all.

 _We're the most expendable_ , Sakura thinks, already having decided to volunteer. With Naruto out of the question, that only leaves Shikamaru and Ino. She would never let Ino put herself in that position, to lower herself to a sacrifice, and letting Ino die would functionally be killing herself anyway. She'd realized that much a while ago.

Allowing Shikamaru to do the same would hurt Ino just as badly as if she'd died herself. Ino's unwavering loyalty to her team ensures that she'd be scarred forever, and Sakura, meanwhile, doesn't mean much to anybody. Though she's sure that Ino cares about her to some extent, they haven't known each other nearly as long as Ino's known her team. Just as she opens her mouth to speak, however, Ino beats her to the punch.

"I'll stay. If there's a chance I can get into the leader's head, I can direct the team away from you all."

Shikamaru tuts disapprovingly. "Too risky. There's no way to ensure they won't be moving too quickly for your Mind Transfer. I'll stay too."

"I'm not going to cover for you if you fall asleep, you know."

"Give me some more credit than that, you troublesome woman…"

The banter is light. The looks they give each other are not.

Life or death, blow for blow, they'll die a team. The thought passes between the two unspoken, both wishing that Choji were there and grateful that he isn't.

Sakura watches this exchange. She's not part of this team – never has been, never will be. She doesn't deserve to participate in this camaraderie, but there is more at stake here than just pride and embarrassment and consideration for one's place. The abject terror of being thrown into this situation without Ino is not something she can whittle down and work around, Kakashi and Sasuke be damned. She couldn't convince herself otherwise even if she tried.

"I'll stay too." Her inarguable tone surprises even her. "Naruto can more than handle dealing with Sasuke."

They all feel time passing acutely. Again, Shikamaru shakes his head.

"No. The more people we have, the harder it will be to coordinate and pull off an ambush. Besides, Naruto might be able to handle Sasuke, but it'll take more than those two to deal with Gaara and his team. You need to go with them."

"I can cloak myself, remember? I won't be a burden." The words feel strange on her tongue. It's not an admission she makes lightly – or confidently. But she wills it to be true because it _needs_ to be, because they have to let her stay, because she will even if they don't want her to.

She chances a look at Ino and sees the warning on her face, but she says it anyway. "I can't leave you."

"Damnit, Sakura," Ino snaps, immediately furious. "Do you think I need you to protect me or something? Because I don't, and if I remember correctly, I'm the one who pulled _you_ from your knees, remember?"

"I –"

Ino motions violently in Pakkun's direction. "You're going, end of story. Despite what you seem to think, I don't need you here. Now go."

The seconds are ticking away, slipping through their fingers.

Urgency is imperative.

Emotional pain is a nuisance and entirely inappropriate.

Sakura knows all three of these things. She knows them, just as she knows each time she's been called worthless, or useless, or fallen into the deepest, darkest holes of self-hatred and disgust, but none of it compares to this.

It's so dumb, she thinks emptily. They're just words. It's just a human speaking to her. It's not something she doesn't already know.

But the pain is indescribable. It feels like death.

For an instant, her expression crumples with it, and she slams the heels of her palms into her eyes and rubs her face, forcefully rearranging her features. Inner Sakura is clawing to defend her, but she doesn't allow the switch.

"That's not what I meant," she says quietly, and grabbing Naruto by the sleeve, bolts in the direction of Sasuke.

They're out of sight in a matter of seconds. That's about how long it takes for Ino to feel like a total ass.

With an aggravated sigh, she wraps steel wire around the trunk of a tree and tosses the reel to Shikamaru, who wordlessly trails it through the branches of another.

 _What is wrong with me?_ Ino ties the knot and pulls the cord harder than necessary, feeling it bite into her palms.

Since when has she been so unsure of herself that she's offended by other people's concern? Since when had she begun to question her abilities to the point of being envious of others? And since when, she asks herself furiously, did she become so bad at deciphering other people's thoughts?

Of course that's not what Sakura meant. Sakura would never think she was capable of defending Ino, not when she held her in such high regard. She hadn't been worried about Ino fighting without her; she'd been scared of fighting without Ino.

" _I can't leave you_ ," the words echo in her head. She'd meant it literally. She really felt like she couldn't go on without her.

"Damnit." Ino curses under her breath and promptly shoves the thoughts into the very back corners of her mind.

If she wants to apologize, she'll have to survive long enough to do it, first.

* * *

 _#_

 _Feedback? :)_


	14. A Lesson in Relativity

**A/N** : Sorry it's late! At least we're over the halfway mark now, in terms of plot progression, so I'll pat myself on the back for that at least, haha. Thanks to everyone for leaving reviews and such! Happy reading! :)

* * *

Chapter 13

"Strength is Strength: A Lesson in Relativity"

...

This must be some kind of trick. These two squads are supposed to be made of chunin, and while they carefully avoided the wire trap, they failed to see through the real intention: the wires only diverted them seamlessly into Shikamaru's Shadow Possession.

It works so flawlessly that Ino hesitates to rush forward and incapacitate them. Shikamaru might be a mastermind at making plans, but this… this is too easy.

She sends him a questioning look.

"Eight," he replies to her unanswered question. His voice is strained with chakra use. "The ninth is their backup in case of an ambush. He'll catch up any minute, and the shadow isn't long enough to reach him, too. I can hold these two squads for a little while longer, but that means I won't be able to do much else."

The rest of it goes unsaid. She'll have to take care of him alone.

Which she can do, definitely. It's just one person. One homicidal, higher ranked, more experienced person…

"Hey," Shikamaru mutters. He tips his head toward the trees.

 _He's already here?_

Her eyes dart between the branches, trying to pinpoint his location, but not for very long. The enemy nin, a wide set man with studded metallic fist weapons surrounding his knuckles, drops from the tree in an instant. He's fast. His fist is already raised, planning to destroy their strategy and their hard work and the back of Shikamaru's skull in one blow. Shikamaru gives her a steady look. It's not pleading or scared; rather, it's a question.

Can she do it?

And Ino is not Ino if the answer is anything but, "duh."

She swallows her fear and drowns it with confidence. She's Ino-fucking-Yamanaka, and she won't die in a forest against a single enemy that's open and in her sights. Not now, not ever.

Her leap is just as quick as his. Every ounce of taijutsu training will be put to the test in this moment as she launches herself towards this man, dodging one fist in mid-air with a back bend. Her momentum still carries her forward, and the right hand, the one aimed at Shikamaru's head, she kicks upward with enough power to force him to step back.

"You idiots," he snarls at his team. "They're just kids. What the hell were you thinking?"

 _Good, he's underestimating us,_ she thinks, dodging his strikes. He's fast, but not fast than Lee or Gai; not even faster than the rubber balls she'd been pelted with. It's a little different to have to take into account the stretch of his limbs and the arc of his counter moves. Rubber balls can't twist in midair, can't catch her with grasping fingers if she's too slow. They don't have limbs and flexible joints.

Still, she manages, but only enough to not get struck. Which is good. Judging by the wind that goes whistling past her head when she moves to evade a punch, one hit from him could mean losing the battle.

The sound-nin quickly becomes frustrated by his inability to catch her, and she knows she has to end this soon. Shikamaru is running on rapidly dwindling reserves. There will be no opportunity for a Mind Transfer. If she has any hope of beating someone without using her clan's technique, and of beating someone with more experience than her, she'll have to use his assumptions against him. She'll have to use her supposed innocence to throw him off.

She'll have to kill him without a fraction of a second's hesitation.

He won't expect it. She can tell by his body language that he's already grown confident in the rhythm of their movements, and this is certainly an area where Ino has the advantage. She can read him like a book, and right now, the smugness of his face and the nonchalance of his strikes says, "If I punch, you'll dodge."

The problem of instant, assured lethality, however, is that Ino doesn't know if she has it. She's certainly felt angry enough to kill before, but even at the stadium, she'd focused more on incapacitating enemies than killing them, making them vulnerable to the finishing blows of her allies. Which isn't so different than killing them herself, really, but somehow, it is. It hadn't been her hands wielding the blade. This time, it has to be. And it has to be done without a second thought.

She has to think of it a different way. This is a matter of necessity, she reminds herself, sliding beneath the enemy's legs as he lunges for her – _he really relies too much on his upper body strength._ If she doesn't kill him, she'll die. Shikamaru will die. This squad will catch up and Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura will die too.

Would she kill to save the lives of her friends?

 _Absolutely_.

There is no doubt in her mind, which is just as she likes it.

"I can't hold it much longer," Shikamaru grunts, distracting her opponent for the split second she needs.

He turns his head fractionally towards the sound of Shikamaru's voice, and even though his eyes are still on her, she can tell by the minute slackening of his expression that his thoughts are elsewhere for the briefest of moments it takes to register Shikamaru's words, and in that split second – where his focus is partly broken and he blinks – that time is all it takes. Her kunai slides into the fleshy part of his throat. She leaps away.

He flails even as he goes down, his arms swinging to catch her, but she's already too far away and he's already too far gone, too dead.

The squad still caught in Shikamaru's jutsu now looks exponentially less confident. Scared, even. She wants to make fun of them because they're frightened by a teenage girl, because that's what Ino would normally do, but somehow the words are caught between her diaphragm and her throat, which is not sliced open like the body on the ground's is, not making a mess of the forest floor, not dead, done, gone, finished –

Shikamaru doesn't say a word about it. Instead, because he is who he is too, because they're a team and he always comes through when she needs him – and because teams do things together, experience things together – he reaches for his kunai pouch. The enemies mimic his movements, their eyes narrowed as they strain to resist the Shadow Possession. He flings one kunai at a time, because he doesn't want to risk missing, even the tiniest bit. He watches unblinkingly as the first one crumples by the blade of a kunai embedded deeply in his neck.

Shikamaru takes a deep breath. "One for one," he says calmly.

Ino nods. "One for one," she agrees.

She does not remind him that they'd started with an odd number. Instead, she draws her kunai, and he draws his, and they take out the rest together.

#

"Our pursuers have stopped," Pakkun informs his two remaining companions.

Sakura tenses. Naruto cheers.

"Those guys! I knew they could do it. Hey, don't worry, Sakura-chan," he grins at her. "We'll get Sasuke and go back them up in no time – that lazy guy is too smart to get killed, anyway."

Several things go through Sakura's mind at once. The first is that she hopes he's right, that Shikamaru is too smart and Ino too strong to get killed. The second is an awareness of where she is and what she's doing, and that there is no hope of Ino catching up with them now, not when she's busy delaying their pursuers. She'll have to face this mess without her.

The last thought is of Sasuke. Sasuke, who put them all in this position, who forced them all to risk their lives, who inadvertently created this situation and her team's separation. Ino is far, far from her, and she's alone, and it's Sasuke's fault, and somehow, she still has to go rescue him from his own arrogance? Her inner self is furious. Sakura is surprised to feel it, too. It's unfamiliar to have such a sentiment directed outwardly instead of inwardly. She wonders if, when Naruto and Ino punch some sense into Sasuke, they might let her join…

 _Naruto is too kind_ , she thinks. Too understanding. He's already forgiven Sasuke for his errors, but she supposes when you have Naruto's kind of luck and endurance, the sort that ensures your survival against all odds, the risks he takes are so much lower. He has a skewed comprehension of what's really at stake or what's happened. His only thought is that a friend is in trouble.

If Kakashi-sensei hadn't assigned her this mission, she wouldn't be here. It's no wonder Shikamaru didn't want to come, either; what point is there in saving a comrade who cares so little about their lives?

But Kakashi did assign it, along with his order to stop Gaara and his team, and she's already here. She can't turn back no matter how badly she wants to. To do so would be to betray her comrades _and_ her village.

Her frustration with their circumstances and with Sasuke only increases when they finally reach him. His crumpled form on the large branch of a tree might've induced some sympathy at another time. Now, though, it feels like little more than retribution. Still, when Naruto kicks Gaara out of the way, she goes to Sasuke's side, checking for injuries. The curse mark has spread across his skin again. It's not nearly so repulsive, though, as whatever it is Gaara has become.

Half boy. Half monster. The sand enveloping him is darker than normal desert sands and congeals around the right half of his body and face, morphing him into some clunky, feral creature.

 _Is it a jutsu? No – it couldn't be, could it? But what else…?_

"Sa… Sakura-chan?" She does not like the way Naruto's voice shakes. "Who is this guy?!"

Of course he'd need her to tell him, as if it weren't obvious, and his evident fear sends panic ripping through her, overriding her usually compliant demeanor enough that when she speaks, it sounds more like an order than anything she's ever managed before. "It's Gaara, Naruto, and we should run. We have Sasuke, and we can't beat him. Let's go!"

She expects that it will take some convincing. Naruto is not one to back down from a fight, not one to give into fear – he'd faced Orochimaru in the Forest of Death without batting an eye, after all, but somehow, the mention of Gaara's name stills him completely.

He agrees without hesitation. "You're right! Let's go –"

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's Gaara that does not agree with their decision.

 _How can something that heavy move so fast?!_

She switches immediately. Gaara is leaping for Sasuke, and whether she likes him or not, letting him die is not in the plan. Inner Sakura takes control and jumps between them with her foot outstretched, catching Gaara's hand… arm… sand-type-limb with brutal force, spinning him around and away from them. His back collides with a tree, jarring him momentarily, and she catches Naruto's eye. He looks uncharacteristically helpless.

"What – what the hell do we do?!" He shouts at her, as if she would know?!

 _Our mission is to retrieve. Gaara isn't going to let us leave – we either have to do what we did last time, where one of us stays and one of us goes back with Sasuke, or we have to take him down together._

( _So, we stay, Naruto goes?_ )

… _No. I think we should all fight._

Inner Sakura, still in control, yanks the edges of her gloves down to fit them tighter over her hands.

( _That's uncharacteristic of you._ )

 _I don't like it, but I don't think we can run. Only one of Gaara's teammates was caught up in a separate battle in the forest, which means another one is still around here. Even if we managed to stay and distract Gaara, Naruto wouldn't be able to outrun his other teammate with Sasuke on his back._

( _What makes you think that they won't interfere with a fight here, then?_ )

Her eyes scan the forest, but she can't detect the chakra signature of Gaara's unaccounted for teammate, whichever one it might be, and she notices at the same time as her other half that when Gaara calls out to them, asking them why they'd protect Sasuke, his voice is strained. It sounds like he's trying to scream and whisper at once. it reminds her of the preliminaries, fighting against Ino, trying to kill her and not kill her at the same time... Gaara, she understands, is combating some force within himself. It's a sensation that Sakura easily comprehends.

 _His teammate is scared of him_ , she realizes. _No one is going to interfere here._

"Sasuke is my friend!" Naruto answers for them both, and Sakura does not bother to distinguish between his answer and hers: _"Because I'm ordered to bring him back."_

Gaara's voice is a mishmash of tones, like the sand on his body is clawing its way up his throat, too. "No wonder you're both so weak. Forget your insignificant friends," he growls. "Only sentimental fools fight for such stupid reasons."

"Insignificant –"

Naruto does not get to finish. He watches, flabbergasted, as it's actually Sakura that rushes forward. She lands a punch to the side of Gaara's head so quickly that he doesn't have time to raise an arm to defend himself.

"Insignificant?!" She shouts, enraged. Who does this guy think he is, anyway? Some movie super villain? What kind of real shinobi allows himself to get caught up in idiotic banter and inappropriate advice, leaving him wide open in his need to sate his own ego? And with such stupid things to say, too.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouts, finally finding his footing again. "Sasuke and Sakura-chan are important to me!"

She flashes him a grin. Honestly, she hadn't been thinking of either of them; Naruto because he's present and can defend himself, Sasuke because she's pissed at him.

"And if Ino were here, she'd kick your ass for calling her that, but since she's not, I'll have to do it for her."

They're bold words. She and Naruto are good at those, though, and whatever fear he'd felt earlier seems to be evaporating as they feed off each other's energy and confidence. It's odd to be standing here with him, but she won't complain because it's also sort of nice to have him by her side. This sensation of assuredness is the first of its kind around him. For once, she feels like they're really on a team. They're standing together.

And for all that Naruto might lack in the brains department, he makes up for with stubbornness and loyalty, and right now, that's exactly what she needs if she wants to win this battle. A partner.

 _I wish –_

( _I know. I wish she were here too, but we'll be okay._ )

 _Maybe_ you _will…_

Sakura bites her tongue as if to punish her meeker self, but she doesn't have time to argue. Not when Gaara is getting up, his face contorting with fury and sand. It distorts his features, his body, all the way down to his knees now. His eyes are like two bright yellow stars floating in blackness, as empty as the void of space in which they exist.

It's a look she's seen before. In the mirror, on Sasuke, and on Naruto, at times when he thought no one was looking. They glance at each other and a silent understanding passes between them.

Gaara isn't just crazy. He's hurt.

If only there were time for sympathy. He launches a barrage of sand kunai at them that she barely dodges. The wound in her side pulls tightly, slowing her down just enough to get nicked in the shoulder. Naruto gets hit fully as he blocks with his forearms, and as Gaara leaps for him in his moment of vulnerability, Sakura launches herself from the branch with chakra-enhanced strength, barreling into the monstrous form and sending them both crashing through branches.

Gaara's sand envelops her, and everything in her body at once screams _danger! Run!_ As she sinks into Gaara like he's a puddle of mud, thrashing in her panic until she feels hands on her shoulders yanking her away.

"Thanks," she breathes to Naruto. If he notices her shaking voice, he doesn't mention it.

They attack together this time. Naruto's clones make perfect cover. Sakura tries not to think too hard about the sand piercing their bodies, about how easily that could be her own as she maneuvers through them, waiting for the right opportunity. Catching sight of her, Gaara swings an arm out toward her, and with a furious cry, she slams her fist into it. Her force overwhelms his and sends the offending limb backwards. It bends around a branch like a limp noodle and dissipates into nothingness.

Gaara's cry is inhuman. Naruto takes the spare moment to jam a kunai, wrapped with explosive paper, into Gaara's back, and they both leap out of range of the explosion.

"Did we get him?"

"I doubt it." Sakura's eyes strain through the smoke, and sure enough, there is Gaara, his sand armor warped around him, but oozing now. "His armor is too good for that to work. We'll have to find a way weaken it enough that we can hit Gaara underneath it, but how…"

Sasuke's chidori would sure come in handy right about now.

"She's right." Well, speak of the devil. They both turn to Sasuke, who is struggling to stand against his chakra exhaustion. "You need a blade to pierce that armor, and not a regular one. You two should run."

That plan is ridiculous. In his state, he would die in a matter of minutes, but the look in his eyes tells her that he's perfectly aware of that. Which means that, not only does he have the gall to pursue an enemy team on his own, but he also has the nerve to dismiss their help, too.

"Sasuke," Naruto growls, apparently sharing her irritation. "You can't just tell us to leave like that! If we go, you're going to die!"

"I know that, you idiot. And if I die, all it means is that's all I was capable of. There is no need for you two to lose your lives as well."

"Don't be an idiot! If we work together, we –"

"No!" Sasuke whirls on him, his eyes alight with the sharingan as his gaze jumps wildly between him and Sakura. The intensity of his voice catches them both off guard, silencing their arguments. "I've lost everything before! I won't watch my comrades die around me again. Just leave."

The admission is obviously hard for him. The desperation on his face is so strong it even makes Sakura cringe with sympathy, and she's surprised when his eyes land on her, when he directs the statement at them both, not just at Naruto.

She hadn't been old enough to truly understand what'd happened when the Uchiha clan had been massacred. She doesn't now the details. She can't imagine them, even, and whatever weight that Sasuke carries, she supposes she might be able to overlook his cold indifference, and even his arrogance, if this is who he really is. If he comes through for them, if he really cares – even if he doesn't say it often, or ever again – then she can forgive him. Mostly.

At least enough to work with him and not let him die alone. It's odd, she thinks, and fitting. She might have questioned whoever decided to put them on a team together with all of their haywire issues and at-odds personalities, but as the three of them stand together, injured and exhausted, she can see it now: they're all alike. They're all suffering from their own particular pains, differing in types and degrees, but there all the same, and breaking them each into unique people lined with their own personalized set of cracks and fissures. It makes her wonder about Kakashi, too. He must not be so different either.

The comprehension is game changing, and she assesses the situation, her and Naruto and Sasuke, and what to do, and whether they can get it done as a team. Whoever assigned them to each other's company obviously did so because they believed Team 7 could learn to pull each other together. Fill the gaps in each other's hearts, perhaps, and maybe it's not going exactly as expected – but, really, when does anything?

"I'm not leaving you," Naruto says firmly, and Sasuke looks like he's about to argue, but Sakura cuts him off.

"Neither am I. We can beat him if we work together, and through no other way. None of us are going to die here. We all have too much to lose."

Despite the solemnity of the situation, it's a happy thought.

"You don't understand! Gaara is –"

 _Lonely. Desperate. Angry. Deadly._

"I know," she cuts him off again.

Naruto tightens his hitai-ate and takes a fighting stance. Gaara is all but recovered now.

"We both do," he says grimly. "And we're going to break this guy apart so we can put him back together again. All of us, together."

Sasuke gives them a long, withering look, but all of his forced animosity cannot cover the gratefulness underneath the expression.

"Fine, then. I see I can't convince you. What's the plan?"

#

The plan is, in short, to kick the shit out of Gaara.

It even works for a while. Naruto summons a countless number of clones, covering Sakura and Sasuke's movement. As he barrages Gaara with a series of punches, Sasuke breaks through the crowd, his chidori crackling and, though weakened, strong enough to pierce the sand armor. Gaara's screech shrieks through the air as Sasuke rips his arm from the wound. The gaping hole he leaves behind is the perfect vulnerable point for Sakura to send her own fist flying into the injury.

There is the crunch of bone, the splatter of blood. Two of Gaara's ribs crack. She kicks him in the stomach and sends him flying, but when he crumples to the ground, it's not for long.

He emerges from the rubble a true, unadulterated monster. The markings on its body remind her of the curse mark, and if its size weren't enough of an indication as to its danger level, the pointed teeth and manic laughter certainly are.

"What the hell is that?!" Sakura shouts, hoping that someone might be able to answer her question and define this towering, gigantic thing before her, but Naruto's only reply is,

"I have no idea, but let's kick its ass!"

Of course he would say that, as if any one of them wouldn't be squashed with a single swipe of that thing's tail. It's taller than two trees stacked on top of one another. Eighty or ninety feet, if Sakura had to guess - far too large to realistically battle at their fractional size. Even paper bombs wouldn't dent a creature that big. Especially not one made of sand.

"And how do you suppose we do that, idiot?" Sasuke gripes. He's panting, but with Sakura and Naruto able to take the heat off him, his chakra has recovered somewhat.

Naruto's is as full to bursting as always. They both watch him wipe the blood from his face, form the seals, press his palm to the branch below them in a familiar way –

And then they're all standing atop the head of an equally enormous creature. A toad.

"What do you want, brat?" The gravelly voice booms from below them. Sakura and Sasuke share a mutually bewildered look.

"Naruto, what the hell –"

Sakura remembers suddenly, "Jiraiya-sama. He taught you this."

"That's right! Ero-sennin has a few tricks up his sleeve, after all."

It's good news. Now they have a giant toad to fight the giant raccoon with...

Sakura can't help but wonder if she's dreaming. Maybe she died already. It feels as though she'd gotten transported into one of those old-fashioned mega-monster comics some of her classmates read as children.

The top of the toad's head sinks under her feet like wet earth, and from here, she can see the entirety of the forest. This feeling of height, of power, is dizzying. It's also the part of this situation that – at least half of her – can't come to terms with.

 _This stuff is usually for heroes…_

Inner Sakura, who is still in control of their body, rolls their eyes. ( _I keep telling you that we're awesome. Do you believe me now?_ )

Not at all. But she doesn't say so.

It takes some convincing to get the huge toad to agree to battle beside them.

"You three..." He sighs, a puff of smoke billowing around them. "It's like looking into the past."

They don't question it.

The battle tears up the forest. Gamabunta jumps from the ground, drawing his sword and slashing at the sand monster before them. A few more attempts yield a severed arm that grows back as quickly as it was cut off. The injury is enough to send Gaara over the edge, though. He emerges from the forehead of the giant beast and does what they least expect – puts himself to sleep.

To release the true power, Gamabunta explains, of Shukaku of the Sand.

"We have to wake him up," the toad grumbles through another smoke-filled exhalation. "One of you will have to get close enough to hit him."

As in, someone will have to leave the relative safety of Gamabunta's head, jump right onto Shukaku, and slap Gaara silly. Someone who can make that ridiculous jump to cover the distance between the two fighting gargantuan, and someone who can do it without being noticed.

Someone like Sakura.

Naruto and Sasuke seem to reach the same conclusion at the same time.

"If any of you know any fire jutsu," Gamabunta adds, "I can distract him by spitting oil. One of you can light it."

"That would be me." Sasuke is already molding his chakra in preparation. "Naruto, your clones will have to be a diversion. If he senses Sakura through her illusion, it's over."

 _Illusion? Me? But – I can't – you're the one with the strength, I can't possibly make that jump!_

( _It's the only way! I'll help you, just like in the Forest of Death. We can do this._ )

 _No! I – I can't do that, I just, what if I mess it up? I can't…_

Inner Sakura sighs through gritted teeth. "You're going to have to give me a minute. Can you guys hold him off for just a while longer?"

"Just hurry," Sasuke says in a surprisingly patient tone.

Sakura binds her feet to Gamabunta, stabilizing herself, and closes her eyes.

She meets her other half in their mental sanctuary. Sakura is cowering against the pillar of their gate, her eyes lifting to meet the furious stare of her inner-self standing above her.

( _Sakura! Snap out of it._ )

 _You don't know what you're asking! I can't do that! I don't even know how –_

( _To punch someone awake? Of course you do._ )

 _But – the jump. I can't._

( _I told you, I'll help you, remember? I'll take over our legs for just a second, like in the Forest of Death, and you do the rest._ )

Sakura does not look convinced. Nervously, she plucks the stray strands of grass from the soil, tearing the blades into smaller and smaller pieces.

 _I don't think…_

She's surprised to feel Inner Sakura grab her by the collar of her shirt, hauling her to her feet. Their faces are inches apart, and it's an odd sensation, looking into your own eyes and being afraid.

( _You're stronger than you think! It was you who survived that beating in the Forest of Death, remember? It was you who survived the Academy, who excelled at it, even, and who pulled the knife from our side! What makes you think you can't do this, too?_ )

Sakura shakes her head. _That's different. Pain is different._

( _You're wrong! It's your determination that allows you to get through these things. It's a type of strength too, Sakura._ )

 _No… I'm not determined. I'm not strong. I'm not anything_ , she whispers back, her eyes sinking to the floor, and Inner Sakura wants to slap some sense into her but it wouldn't work anyway. Not with her absurd pain tolerance.

But Inner Sakura knows she's right. Her other half is strong, stronger than she'll ever be able to see, and strong in ways that Inner Sakura is not. Self-discipline, endurance, tolerance, temperance… these are all skills that have their own merits, that are powerful in their own right, but maybe she's wrong about one thing. Trying to convince Sakura that she's worth anything is a futile task – and, in fact, all her strengths come from a place in quite the opposite direction: self-deprecation. In her own backwards way, Sakura is strongest when she believes she's the most worthless.

As much as it pains her to do it, as much as she doesn't believe her own words, Inner Sakura knows what needs to be said.

( _You're scared_.)

Sakura looks up at her, surprised. _I'm not – not really, anyway, my fear is –_

( _Nothing_ ), she finishes, rolling her eyes. ( _Yeah, I get it, but you know what? It was fear that stopped you from grabbing the bell during Kakashi-sensei's exam, and fear that kept you from jumping out of the way of Orochimaru, and it's fear that's stopping you now, too. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of your own weakness. You might be able to endure a lot of pain, Sakura, but you're fear is going to get you killed_.)

 _But, I…_ Sakura's eyes water ashamedly. _I shouldn't be scared. What right do I have, when everyone else…?_

Ino had offered herself up as bait without a single waver or hint of self-doubt in her voice. Shikamaru had followed suit. Naruto had overcome his fear to fight Gaara, and Sasuke had nearly sacrificed his own life to save them both.

Inner Sakura senses these thoughts and builds off of them, as much as she hates to do it.

( _That's right! It's like what you told me back at the stadium. Maybe you don't think you can do it, and maybe your fear is stopping you, but what makes you think that you get to opt out because of it? Everyone else is struggling, risking their lives. Do you think that you're special enough to allow yourself to get overwhelmed by the same fear they're feeling?! Ino is fighting for her life right now – do you think you're better than her?_ )

Slowly, Sakura moves her head side to side, and Inner Sakura shakes her by the shoulders.

( _Do you think you're special, Sakura?! Do you think you should be able to succumb to your worries when no one else does?!)_

 _N-no… of course not…_

( _Well, then, what are you going to do? This is why Ino didn't challenge you at the stadium, why she doesn't acknowledge you as a comrade in arms! If you keep being selfish and giving into your worries, Ino is never going to see you like that, and do you want to fight by her side, or not?_ )

This answer is easy. Sakura grits her teeth.

 _I do._

Inner Sakura throws her through the gate, swapping their places.

( _Then get the fuck out there and kick some ass already!_ )

Worst. Pep talk. Ever.

Sakura opens her eyes to the battle-torn forest. The landscape is significantly altered. Trees are uprooted and shredded like the blades of grass she'd been mutilating in her mindscape, and her teammates are hardly in better shape. Sasuke looks about ready to pass out. Even Naruto is hitting his limits.

And who is she to not work just as hard? The fear is there still, chilling her blood, pumping her heart impossibly fast against the back of her ribs. It's nauseatingly strong as she looks at the monster before her, stronger even than when she'd faced Orochimaru, and she nearly sinks to her knees and heaves with it. The sensation is overwhelming.

Sakura is terrified, but looking at her teammates, she knows that Inner Sakura is right. She's so, _so_ scared, and it so, _so_ doesn't matter.

"I'm ready," she says. Her voice trembles. Her knees shake. Sasuke looks unsure, but Naruto puts a hand on her shoulder.

"I know you can do it, Sakura-chan! I believe in you."

It takes Sasuke a moment, but then he smirks, because Sasuke can't show that he cares without hiding it under something else. "You were the only one who really passed Kakashi-sensei's exam, after all."

It's funny, sort of. Sasuke's compliment is stiff and unnatural, but the fact that he's said it at all is like being struck by lightning. She finds it amusing to think that almost any girl from her graduating class would've killed to hear that from him.

"Hey, kids!" Gamabunta breaks the moment. "We don't have all day!"

With one last look at her, Sasuke and Naruto jump to the forefront of Gamabunta's head. Sakura ducks down and casts her genjutsu, hidden by the cloud of dust between them. She stands beside her teammates and waits.

As soon as the smoke and debris clears, Shukaku screams at them, sending waves of chakra-infused sand their way. Gamabunta jumps high into the air and spits oil carefully at Shukaku's feet, and then Sasuke lights it, a massive fireball landing on the forest floor and igniting in a shower of flames.

Sakura takes a deep breath, feels her knees bend, and jumps.

And, as promised, Inner Sakura sends them flying. The exact moment she needs to send the chakra to her feet, she feels it like a lock clicking into place, a reflex built on muscle memory not her own. Her leap sends her flying forward with a speed she isn't used to handling. The oil has splattered up Shukaku's torso, alighting his whole form, and when she lands, she finds that his sand-body has absorbed the heat. Searing pain greets her fingertips as her hands hit the surface of his head to steady herself.

The soles of her boots, reinforced with rubber, melt against the intense heat until there is nothing but the wood underneath. Even that begins to char as the flames engulf the monster. His screams are like needles in her ears, but she pushes herself forward along the sinking, molten surface.

Her feet catch, sending her to her knees and scorching them instantly. She makes no sounds of pain. Shukaku could still kill her at any time if he notices her - the memory of being slowly submerged in the quicksand of Gaara's half-transformed body is still fresh in her mind. Gaara is just a few yards away now, and she half-crawls, half-walks, painstakingly yanking her feet out of the sinkhole of sand one step at a time. Their plan seems to work. Shukaku hadn't seen through her illusion and is too distracted by the fire to notice her.

Every inch of her skin screams with pain. Every muscle in her body seizes with it. Her eyes water from smoke and agony, and the pressure of a sob builds in her torso, threatening to escape from her ash filled lungs. The thought that the monster beneath would not hear her over the noise of the battle doesn't occur to her addled mind. Inner Sakura is notably silent, subsumed with the scale of their pain. Each step is a tortured battle, a minor victory, and she reaches Gaara at last, her skin singed and burning so badly that she catches the acrid smell even above the stench of the incinerated trees, and clenching her fingers, numbed by the destroyed nerve endings, she slams her fist against Gaara's face as hard as she can.

It's not like a blow from her inner-self, but it's hard enough. In mirroring damage, the side of Shukaku's face cracks and dents. The monster crumbles a mere moment later, and with her vision obscured, she can't quite catch herself as she falls. Gaara's eyes open, awake now, as they plummet to the forest floor. She hears Gamabunta mumble something; his deep voice rumbles the air. He disappears in a puff of smoke, no doubt sending Naruto and Sasuke crashing downwards too, though unfortunately a considerable distance away as they're all blown apart by Gamabunta's de-summon.

They crumple when they hit the ground. Sakura manages to roll with the impact a little bit, sparing herself broken legs in exchange for a dislocated shoulder and a torn ligament in her knee. Gaara just hits the dirt like sack of – well, sand.

He's somehow still conscious, though. He watches her struggle to stand against the pain of her injuries with cold, curious eyes. The relative silence of the forest feels deafening now. Only the crackling of the still smoldering trees keeps her ears from ringing. When Gaara speaks, it sounds like a whisper in her ear.

"Why," his voice rasps, "do you fight so hard?"

It's a good question. She wishes Naruto were here to say something inspirational. She's not good at those kinds of things, and her inner half is about ready to pass out from the torment of her damaged body; she doesn't dare switch and risk unconsciousness.

Still, she doesn't know how to answer. Before Ino, she'd fought because she didn't feel her pain was a good enough reason to quit. She's not sure she knows the answer anymore.

"Because…" It hurts to talk. Her mouth and lungs are seared with heat. She clears her throat and tries again, letting the words spill thoughtlessly. "Everyone around me fights their hardest. I won't insult them by pretending I'm special, that I can get away with doing anything less than that. I have to do this, to fight alongside them."

Gaara doesn't even blink. "But it hurts, doesn't it."

It's not a question. She's made it to her hands and knees now. The heat blisters on her fingertips scrape against the dirt, but she knows he's not talking about that kind of pain. She can tell by his voice, by his tone, by his spoken need to make himself feel real, that Gaara is a person who understands what it's like to be nothing. They're not so different.

"Even if it does," she halfway admits, "that's part of it, isn't it? Being nothing means having to recognize that the pain of other's is more valuable than your own. And… and if that's true," she continues, working it out as she speaks, "If their suffering is worth double, then I would rather suffer twice as much to…"

To do what? Could she ever really hope to do anything useful, to be more than a punching bag…?

 _Yes_ , she answers her own question. Giving into her worries had been selfish – by its nature, fear is self-concerned. Inner Sakura had shown her that. If she's really putting herself last, and if she's really putting her friends first, then she'll have to step up and fight with them. _For_ them, if she has to. It makes sense now, the duality in her mind like a balance, one that she'd been taking advantage of for some time.

One to take punches, the other to deliver them. She the shield, her other self, the sword.

"To spare them the pain," she finishes in a whisper.

They stare at each other in silence. Gaara's face doesn't move. There is no reflection of emotion in his eyes as they watch each other from the short distance between them. From somewhere nearby and increasingly closer, they hear their respective teams bouncing through the now sparse trees in search of them, and finally, Gaara breaks the silence.

His tone is strange. "That is why you're strong?"

How can someone so monstrous a moment ago be so unsure and self-conscious the next?

But, of course, she's no stranger to that herself.

"If I'm strong," she says firmly, resisting the urge to dismiss the compliment, "then so are you."

His eyes widen marginally. It's even harder to detect than Kakashi-sensei's rare, nearly imperceptible displays of emotion, but she sees it nonetheless in the last second it takes for their teams to arrive.

There is a brief standoff, and then Kankuro hauls Gaara's body over his shoulder and they disappear into the remains of the forest.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto gushes as soon as they're safely alone. "That was awesome!"

"You guys were too," she replies with a weak smile, finally managing to get to her feet.

Sasuke almost reaches forward to assist her, but thinks better of it. "Can you make it?"

Her smile grows in earnest this time. Even as she sways unsteadily for a moment, her answer is sure.

"Always."

* * *

 _#_

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	15. Paid Vacation: Part I

**A/N** : Sorry for the long absence! I've been rather occupied, but as compensation, I'm putting up two chapters today! I likely won't be posting again for a little while - probably about a week - but do not fear! It's not a hiatus. The next few chapters are already written and only need to be read over, but that'll take me a while with my current schedule. Thanks to everyone as usual :)

As a side note, I haven't re-watched the series, but does the anime ever mention what the hell Sakura is doing while Naruto is on his search for Tsunade and the rest of her team is in the hospital? I can't recall anything about it. On the bright side, that gave me a lot of wiggle room to have fun with it! Happy reading!

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Chapter 14

"Paid Vacation: Part I"

…

Sakura can't help but feel peeved. After being put in a medically induced coma to have her excessive injuries healed, she wakes to find that several – very frustrating – things have happened.

Kakashi is in the hospital for reasons no one will explain. So is Sasuke. Meanwhile, Naruto apparently went to search for Tsunade. She had a few reasons to find the legendary healer herself, and she'd missed her chance. Now, she'll have to wait weeks for Naruto to return and hope that he succeeds.

It's not the worst, she supposes. Maybe she can get stronger in the meantime. Anything she can do to increase her chances of Tsunade accepting her request, she'll try her hardest to do.

Most irritatingly, however, she realized she'd slept through Ino's birthday.

But at least the most important things are in order. Ino is okay, and so is Shikamaru, though the village is worse for wear, and that's putting it kindly. Half of it is completely destroyed. The exact magnitude of the casualties is a safely guarded secret, meaning the number is high enough that the elders deemed it unsafe to announce exactly how badly Orochimaru crippled their military strength.

It makes sense that she's been sent on at least a dozen missions in the two weeks since she woke, then. In its state of disrepair, Konoha has to save as much face as possible, which means completing close to its typical number of contracts, and with far fewer shinobi left to do it. Even ranks have been made flexible in the aftermath. Academy students are being sent on D-ranks. Suitable genin are being chosen for C-ranks, and so forth.

Sakura, relegated to D-ranks only, is a notable exception to this, since both of her team members are either incapacitated or gone. She's not sure if it's worth complaining about. It at least gives her more time to train, though Gai is frequently absent for lengthy periods of time – again, for reasons no one will tell her – but she, Ino, and Lee manage to make it work when the latter aren't sent out on longer missions.

Hence why Sakura and Ino are now walking around the village on their hands.

It'd started with a challenge that spiraled out of control. Ino and Sakura's more combative half got into an argument, escalating the requirements to succeed at the training task until it became nearly impossible. Lee got caught up in the excitement, making more and more "punishments" in case of their (imminent) failure, and now…

"This… isn't… fair…" Ino grunts from her position upside down. She's fairly certain that all the blood in her body has pooled in her head by now.

Sakura manages to reply through her strain. "What… isn't?"

"You have… super strength!"

They both collapse at the same time. Apparently trying to speak had been a mistake.

"It doesn't work that way," Sakura explains as she catches her breath. They have unfortunately stopped in the middle of a busy market district. The stares are plentiful, but they'd gotten used to it after their second lap. "Chakra-enhanced strength doesn't help nearly as much with endurance."

"So we're equally in pain right now?"

"Similar, at least."

"That's comforting."

Sakura smiles at that. She'd been worried Ino might still be angry with her after their argument, but she'd woken up at the hospital to find the other girl dozing at her bedside. Ino apologized sincerely, if a little flippantly, and though they hadn't exactly worked out who was wronged and why, Sakura didn't push the point. She's more than happy just to know they're still friends.

It helps that Ino began to challenge her a little bit, too, though that probably has just as much to do with Sakura's increase in confidence. It's not exactly that she thinks she's better than she was; it's more about being assured in her role than anything else. Life is much simpler now that she'd defined why she puts one foot in front of the other. Or one hand, as the case may be.

Sakura's only complaint is that there is obviously something still bothering her friend. Ino has been acting noticeably different in subtle ways that Sakura can't explain – certain looks, postures, odd tones. Ino's obviously been trying to keep it to herself, but Sakura can't help but notice anyway. Still, she hasn't asked about it. It's not that she doesn't want to know what's upsetting her friend; she just hopes that Ino will tell her in her own time.

"Aw, damn," Ino groans, covering her eyes as if she could make the sight before her disappear. "Not another one…"

Shikamaru approaches sluggishly, as usual, and reaches them with the obvious question on his lips. "Why are you two lying down in the middle of a busy street?"

"Lee," they answer at the same time.

"Ah. Right." He nods, accepting the single syllable as a thorough explanation. "Well you have a mission –"

"No," Ino whines unabashedly. "Come on! We've been going on non-stop – wait. You didn't say 'we'?"

Shikamaru shrugs. "The two of you, actually."

"Both of us?" Sakura sits up abruptly. She's never been assigned on a mission with Ino before.

"Yep."

"Why?"

He tsks in annoyance at the questions and tosses the mission scroll. It lands in Sakura's lap. "I didn't read it. You guys figure it out. I'm going to bed…"

"But it's four in the afternoon…"

He's already walking away and doesn't bother indulging them with a reply. She and Ino glance at each other, then at the scroll. She hands it over for Ino to unwrap.

Ino's look is decidedly perplexed. "What the..."

"What is it?"

"You have to be kidding me." Her tone is disbelieving, but there's a grin on her face.

"What? What does it say?"

With a grunt, Ino hauls herself to her feet, offering Sakura a hand. She pulls the other girl out of the busy street and towards a quieter neighborhood area – where they're less likely to be overheard, Sakura realizes.

When they're safely secluded, standing between two fences in a narrow alleyway, Ino turns to face her.

"We have to go undercover."

"Just us?"

Even being down so many men, any mission that requires subterfuge certainly wouldn't be awarded to two rookies, right…?

"Even though it's a C-rank, I think that's just because of what the contractor was willing to pay, not a reflection of the actual difficulty. The assignment is apparently easy enough that they don't want to waste valuable resources by assigning a chunin."

"Ah, well, I guess that makes sense…"

"You should be happy!" Ino chides. "Now we only have to split the pay two ways! And that's not even the best part. There's a small town about thirty miles away called Yunosato that we'll be visiting – they're famous for their hot springs!"

"That sounds more like a vacation than a mission…"

"Exactly!" Ino confirms excitedly, her eyes practically sparkling at the thought. "I've always wanted to go there. People say the springs have magical properties that can make a woman more beautiful _and_ improve her health! I can't wait…"

She trails off, her mind already thirty-some miles away and relaxing in the soothing water… But there's still one very important question to be asked.

"So," Sakura prompts her gently. "Why are we going?"

Ino returns to present time, her daydream officially interrupted, and she waves a dismissive hand as if this part is the least important. "There's some creeps spying on the women's baths. The owners of the hotels pooled together to hire us so we can take care of them. The mission details seem to imply that it's just a few gross wanderers getting some kicks though, so it shouldn't be too difficult to take them down. But we'll have to find them first."

There is still another unanswered question, however.

"But…" Sakura clarifies, "Why are _we_ going?"

"Oh." Ino shrugs. "Apparently the perverts target underage girls. Oh, don't make that face," she rolls her eyes at Sakura's grimace. "Creepy men or not, we get to enjoy this one all on our own! Can you believe it?" Ino squeals and doesn't wait for her to answer. "I can't wait! Hot springs, spa treatment, C-rank pay…"

Sakura smiles at her friends' enthusiasm. A break from their rigorous training _does_ sound nice, but most importantly, she's just glad to spend more time with Ino.

Even if they have to prostrate themselves to perverts while doing it.

#

The mission scroll allots them a full thirty-six hours to get to Yunosato, apparently assuming that the two genin would travel slowly compared to the usual speed set by higher ranking shinobi, but they hadn't accounted for the game-changing factor of an incredibly excited Ino.

Sakura is pretty sure that Ino is running faster than she had when they'd been chasing Gaara.

When they're five miles from the border of the small town, Ino stops and turns around so abruptly that Sakura comes to a screeching halt, her feet sliding through the dirt. She manages to stop a mere two inches from collision, but the blond doesn't seem to notice the incredibly short distance between them.

"Sakura," Ino grabs her by the shoulders, her face serious. "I just had a thought."

"Wh-what? Is something wrong?"

"What if…"

She trails off. Sakura waits for her to finish the question, growing increasingly apprehensive with each passing second at Ino's sudden change in attitude.

"What? What is it?"

"What if…" Ino gulps in apparent fear. "What if the legends are true? What if I become exponentially more beautiful?"

Sakura keeps her facial expression carefully neutral. "Uh…"

"What if I become so gorgeous that men simply can't resist me anymore?! I'll have to spend my days fighting off advances from handsome men, turning them all down but the _one_ , breaking hearts for the rest of my years…"

Sakura takes this dramatization surprisingly well. Half of her, anyway.

( _What?! She stopped us for_ _ **that**_ _?!_ )

She can't help but giggle at Ino's rather absurd worry and her inner self's response, but Ino's eyes narrow, apparently not sharing the mirth. Despite her apology for what happened in their pursuit of Sasuke, she's been strangely defensive lately.

"What? You think that couldn't happen? Are you saying that I'm not good enough for dozens of handsome men?"

"W-wait, what? No! Of – of course not!"

"Then what _are_ you saying?"

"I'm just – uh, I don't think that, um…" Sakura chooses her words carefully. "Aren't you already that beautiful? I mean, I think so, at least, and I know that most of the people in our graduating class thought so, too…"

Ino remains motionless. She stares at her suspiciously for a moment longer, and then releases her shoulders with a sigh.

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

When they continue, their pace is much slower, and Sakura is bewildered to realize that Ino had been genuinely excited to reach the hot springs in the hope of maximizing her good looks. Ino's always been confident in her beauty, so it seems odd that she'd suddenly be in a hurry to improve her physical attributes.

( _Yeah, but she's always dieting and stuff, remember? And she puts a lot of effort into her hair and clothes and all that_.)

 _I guess_ , Sakura concedes, _but, I mean, do you think she really doesn't know how beautiful she is?_

Her inner's voice is suggestive. ( _You could always tell her exactly how much you think so, you know…_ )

 _I already told you a dozen times, the answer is no._ Sakura replies shortly. _Besides, something is already off between us, so I hardly think now is the right time to start dropping hints – not that there will ever be a "right time" for that. But still._

Her other half sighs but doesn't argue any further. They've discussed it on several occasions at this point, and Sakura is very insistent about shoving any… _unusual_ emotions into a very deep, dark, locked-and-thrown-away-the-key closet, despite her inner's protests that it would be better to tackle the problem head on and just be forthcoming about it all. But Sakura is adamant.

She's sure there's no point. Whatever is going on with her rather intense and confusing emotions, she's entirely certain that the turbulence is not reciprocated, and moreover, that pursuing anything other than a friendship would be a bad idea. She already has everything she could want with Ino's companionship, and that's evidently tenuous in some ways she can't figure out. Nothing will be gained from trying to escalate the situation into –

( _Except that you know we both totally want to get our hands on her –_ )

 _Ihavenoideahwhatyou'retalkingabout._

"Sakura?" Ino stops in the middle of the wide dirt road and waves a hand in front of her friend's noticeably red face. "Are you okay?"

Sakura tries to smile and is painfully aware that she can't get passed more than a grimace. "Yeah! Yes, completely fine, just fine. Yep."

"Are you sure?" Here, Ino's eyes narrow again, but this time mischievously. "What exactly were you thinking about…?"

"Nothing!" Sakura says a little too loudly and a little too quickly, and then Ino is suddenly circling her like a hungry wolf. A hungry wolf that's starving for gossip.

"Now, Sakura, we're friends aren't we?"

"Of course we are…"

"So, if you had a _crush_ on someone," Ino continues, her grin widening when Sakura flinches at the word, "you would tell me, wouldn't you…?"

"Sure I would…"

Ino stops her pacing directly in front of Sakura and leans forward slowly. Her eyes are squinted as if the truth might be scrawled in tiny letters somewhere on Sakura's face. With each disappearing inch between them, Sakura's blush intensifies incrementally, and when their noses are nearly touching, and she's sure her heart is going to get forcibly vomited out of her mouth, Ino jumps back with her finger outstretched in accusation.

"Liar!" She crows triumphantly. "Who is it?"

"No one! Really, I –"

"Is it Naruto?"

"What! No, I –"

"Lee?"

"No! Really, Ino, I don't –"

Ino frowns. "It's not Sasuke, is it?"

"Of course not!" Sakura blurts out immediately.

( _Surprise! It's you!_ )

 _Quit it!_

( _Sakura and Ino, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G –_ )

"Shut up already!" Sakura covers her ears as if that would help block out the voice coming from inside her head and immediately realizes her mistake.

Ino's tone is downright gleeful. "Ooh! Let me talk to Sakura! I bet _she'll_ tell me!"

"No, she absolutely _won't_ ," Sakura says vehemently, the harshness in her voice mostly directed inwardly.

The uncharacteristic commanding tone gives Ino pause. Her shoulders drop slightly, and she stares at Sakura for a prolonged moment, considering something, and then finally drops it.

"It must be serious then. Fine, don't tell me," she sniffs. "I'm sure I'll find out eventually anyway.

( _ **I**_ _certainly hope so._ )

 _What is with you?_ Sakura replies exasperatedly. She jogs to catch up with her now mildly offended friend. _You've never been this insistent about it before_.

( _That's because we're normally distracted with other things, like training, or trying not to die, but right now we're on a mission with her, alone, about to get naked in a steamy bath –_ )

 _Alright! I get it._

( _And we_ _ **are**_ _teenagers, you know. Hormones and all that? You might be totally happy being abstinent for the rest of your life, but not all of us want to die virgins –_ )

 _I'll think about it, okay?! Just drop it!_

( _Finally!_ )

She must still be making a strange face because Ino keeps giving her sidelong glances every few seconds. Sakura forcefully rearranges her expression into something that she hopes is relatively normal and is infinitely glad to spot the signpost up ahead, signifying that they're almost there.

The rest of the walk takes less than an hour, and quite suddenly, the village looms up from the end of the road in a series of single and double-story buildings. It's a small town, populated by less than a few thousand people and consisting mostly of tourists. The largest establishments are built to feed that industry. It seems that two out of three buildings they pass are restaurants, hotels, spas, or some combination of the three.

"So," Sakura clears her throat, breaking the silence. "Where should we stay?"

"Mm, I don't know… I'd like to stay in a hotel with access to one of the springs, if we can afford it."

The mission stipend hadn't amounted to much, giving them just enough to stay comfortably for about three or four days before they'd be forced to use their own funds or else camp out, which would not only be uncomfortable, but unwise considering they're supposed to be undercover. She considers suggesting that they find the cheapest place in case their mission takes longer than they expect, but Ino seems determined to make the most of their fortunate location, and Sakura's not about to argue with something that makes her this happy.

"This place looks nice." Ino gestures at the modest two-story building. The back of it is fenced off with high wooden posts, presumably to hide the springs behind it from any wandering eyes. It's a tall barrier, but not tall enough that anyone with even the most marginal chakra control – or someone particularly determined – couldn't find a way to scale it.

"Looks good to me," Sakura agrees.

They check in and are led to the second floor. The hallways are bare of any decor, but the wooden floors and walls give the place a wholesome, natural feel. The room itself is clean and relatively large, even including a small refrigerator and microwave for their convenience, though there's only one bed. Sakura is already calculating whether or not there are enough blankets to make sleeping on the floor comfortable, but she's not about to ask before it becomes absolutely necessary to bring up that fact.

When the hostess leaves them to unpack, Sakura disappears into the bathroom to change. They'd travelled in civilian clothes. She'd opted for a plain long-sleeve shirt the same color as her typical uniform, her usual boots, and black leggings, both of which had unfortunately absorbed a fair bit of sweat from their rigorous pace. It's one of few outfits she owns, though, and when she reemerges wearing more or less the same thing in slightly different colors, Ino raises an eyebrow at her.

"We should go shopping again," she says bluntly. Sakura barely manages not to hang her head ashamedly.

Clothes really aren't her forte. Ino, on the other hand, manages to look beautifully elegant in a delicately frilled yellow sundress. It rests a few inches above her knees, and the neckline cuts down just enough to expose some cleavage, which Sakura is not staring at whatsoever, not at all, really, and –

 _This – this is your fault!_

( _Uh huh._ )

 _If you hadn't talked so much about it – !_

( _Keep telling yourself that_.)

"Should we check out the town?" Ino asks giddily. She's already heading for the exit, oblivious to Sakura's internal argument.

"Sure. What should we look for?"

Ino, as if suddenly remembering that they're here for a reason, stops with her hand on the door handle. "Oh, right. Well, the mission scroll detailed that most of the places citing disturbances were hotels like ours, so we should probably check out a few more and keep an ear out for any rumors. But, you know, most of the reports were issued at night, so we could also do some shopping in the meantime, maybe eat at one of those cute little cafes…"

Sakura guesses they'll likely be doing more of the latter than the former, and sure enough, no sooner than they've crossed the street, Ino pauses at a merchant's cart and holds up a colorful wrap to check the color against her skin. Sakura follows her as she practically skips from cart to cart, store to store, oohing and awing and asking for her opinion on a variety of items. Mostly, she gravitates toward skirts and dresses, the occasional ornament or piece of art, and once in a while, her eye catches on a piece of jewelry or other.

"Oh. Nevermind," Ino sighs disappointedly. She replaces the decorative hair comb back on a shelf after a quick glance at the price tag. It's a small piece with four silver teeth, but the top sparkles with dozens of tiny, turquoise colored gems, and it's about the size of her palm, Sakura notices, and the store is located about half a mile from their hotel, and…

( _You're totally going to buy it for her._ )

 _You promised you'd knock it off!_

( _I'm not saying it's a bad idea, you know. We did miss her birthday._ )

 _Sakura…_

( _Fine, fine._ )

Sakura's tone is impatient. She's had more than enough of her inner's cajoling, but when the sun begins to set and they head back to the hotel, Sakura feigns having forgotten her wallet and promises to catch up. She goes back to the small jewelry store and buys the hair piece anyway.

#

When she arrives back at the room, she quickly shoves her purchase into her travel bag. Not a second afterwards, Ino exits the bathroom and throws herself on the bed with a dramatic belly flop.

"Ugh. I'm exhausted."

"At least we get to use the bath now," Sakura comforts. "Did you hear anything on the way back?"

Ino rolls onto her back and sits up. "Actually, I did, but I don't know if it's the group we're looking for or not. I heard a couple of employees at a hotel about a quarter mile away complaining about peepholes drilled into the wall. They said the guy peeping was lanky, which doesn't match the descriptions we got, but then again, it was dark. I guess either description isn't really reliable."

"I think anyone peeping should be dealt with anyway, right? Whether or not it's the group we're looking for, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to set a precedent and show that they won't get away with it. Maybe if we catch someone and get them arrested, it'll force the others to leave."

Ino shrugs and rolls off the bed and onto her feet, putting her wallet and accessories into her bag. "Good point. We'll just have to keep an eye out in general then, I guess. You ready to go?"

"Ready when you are," Sakura says, though it's a baldfaced lie. The thought of being naked with Ino, no matter how nonsexual the context, is unnerving. Normally she'd just remind herself that her discomfort is meaningless and force herself to forget about it, but considering all of her other half's talk about... inappropriate things, it's more difficult than usual.

As they store their clothes in the change room and wrap the incredibly tiny towels around themselves, Sakura simply resolves not to look anywhere but Ino's face.

The bath is surprisingly empty. The peeping toms really must have scared a lot of the tourists away. Sakura keeps a careful eye out for any odd holes in the fence or leering men, however unrealistic it might be to spot something like that so immediately.

"This is amazing," Ino sighs blissfully, slipping into the water and leaning back against the hot stones. "I really needed this."

Sakura hums in agreement. It does feel really, _really_ good on her sore muscles, abused from days of training with Lee.

( _Ooh! Switch! Switch!_ )

They're sitting across from each other in the narrowest part of the bath. Sakura sticks her foot out to gently tap Ino on the leg, giving her a subtle look but not saying a word for fear of anyone listening in. As soon as Ino nods in understanding, Sakura and her other half switch places. Thankfully, she hadn't said much yet, or else anyone looking would really wonder about the stability of her mental state.

"Holy crap!" Sakura stretches out her aching body, flopping back into the water with a small splash. "This _is_ amazing. I say we extend our vacation."

"Oh yeah, I'm totally okay with that idea. As long as you're paying."

"Aw, c'mon," Sakura complains. "I'm broke!"

Ino raises an eyebrow. "Haven't you been working a lot lately?"

( _Oops._ )

 _Don't spoil the surprise!_

"Yeah, but I'm only getting small tasks from the – the shop owners," she corrects herself quickly, should anyone be eavesdropping. "And I'm trying to save."

"For anything in particular?"

"Our next shopping trip."

Ino gasps delightedly. "I didn't know you liked shopping so much! If that's the case, I think we should go to the other side of the market tomorrow. There's a whole five or six blocks of stores that we haven't seen yet."

"Sounds like fun." She hopes she sounds authentically enthusiastic and not at all like a person who has just told a lot of lies in a very short time.

Ino doesn't seem to notice, however. She merely accepts the answer and leans her head against the stone rim of the bath, sinking a little further into the water.

The steam is thick around them. Sakura busies herself by checking their surroundings every few minutes, since Ino seems less than interested in doing so for the moment, but with her vision so heavily obscured, it would be difficult to make out something as small as a peephole. There are no perverts leaning over the high walls, either, and she wonders if maybe there's a more efficient way they should be doing this. Then again, they'd made themselves pretty conspicuous in town today. They'd covered a lot of ground and even made a point of saying their hotel name a few times in case any of the targets had been lurking in the crowd.

There isn't really much else they can do, she figures, except wait.

 _We could go to separate baths. I can cloak us so we can observe one onsen while Ino stays in another. That way we can double our chances._

( _Yeah, but what's the fun in that? Besides_ ), she continues before her other self can protest, ( _we're doubling our chances already. If the targets are looking for underage girls, isn't having more than one in a bath twice as tempting?_ )

 _I suppose…_

( _And we can check Ino out._ )

 _Damnit, Sakura!_

Oh, but scolding be damned, she's not about to waste a perfectly good opportunity. Inner Sakura determinedly ignores her other self's complaints that they're no better than the peepers if they do this, and her eyes travel the length of Ino's body, a perverted grin threatening to break loose when her gaze lands on her friend's chest. She stares intensely at the area, exposed as a result of the microscopic onsen towels, and she stares, and stares, and stares –

And then she notices something that has nothing to do with boobs.

( _Did you see that?_ )

 _Yeah. What was it?_

( _I don't – hey, there it is again!_ )

It's barely visible. If she hadn't seen it twice, she might've chalked it up to a trick of the eye, but there's almost certainly a tiny pinpoint of red light through the fog. Every fifteen seconds or so, it blinks again. She keeps her face carefully neutral, trying to figure out what it might be, when she realizes after a few minutes that Ino is staring at her.

"What are you looking at?"

( _Shit._ )

 _Think quickly or you'll blow our cover!_

"Uh – you're boobs," Sakura blurts out.

 _Are you kidding me?!_

"…Any reason in particular?" Ino asks, thankfully sounding more amused than angry.

Sakura shrugs. "They seem bigger than usual."

"They've been growing a lot lately," she admits, and Sakura thinks that if the peeping tom is indeed here as she suspects, he's probably thoroughly enjoying the conversation. "But you couldn't know that unless you'd been ogling them before, you perv."

"Ha! You wish," Sakura retorts easily. "Even if I were interested in boobs, why would I bother with your tiny ones, huh?"

Ino glares through the steam. "I bet you're just jealous because you've had the same chest since you were five!"

"Does that mean you've been staring at it for that long?!"

"Ugh!" Ino sticks her tongue out disgustedly. "Don't be gross!"

Sakura smiles smugly. "Back at you! Besides, I bet my boobs are still bigger than yours anyway."

 _What?! They're definitely not._

( _Well, duh. I know that._ )

"Yeah, right! Are you blind or something?"

"Are _you_?" Sakura answers instantly.

They're glaring at each other so heatedly that Sakura is mildly surprised the electricity crackling between them hasn't physically manifested as a current in the water. After another ten seconds or so of aggravated silence, Ino stands up, jabbing her finger at Sakura angrily.

"Alright then, let's compare, shall we?"

"Fine! You're on!"

They both proceed to drop their towels, which is, of course, exactly what Inner Sakura planned from the beginning with her obvious lie.

 _Ohmygod. You did not just do that._

( _You should be thanking me!_ )

…

She doesn't answer. Partly because this is absurd and opportunistic, and partly because she _is_ thanking her, and partly because she can't think when her eyes are full of Ino's bare, wet chest.

"Ha! Told you," Ino says triumphantly. "Mine are definitely bigger."

Sakura makes a skeptical noise. "I don't know about that."

"What? Just look! I'm a full cup size bigger than you!"

"Well, looks can be deceiving, you know. I think if we're going to be truly accurate, you'll have to let me touch 'em."

"Huh, well, maybe you're – w-wait a minute!" Ino stutters out. She immediately ducks back into the water and wraps her towel protectively around her chest. "What the hell, Sakura!"

She's too busy laughing to answer, and Ino growls out some rather foul language and stands, heading for the changing room.

"I'm going back inside. And don't stare at my ass either!"

"What ass?!"

"UGH!"

Sakura carefully watches the place where she'd seen the red light. Ino walks within two feet of the spot, but the flashing is noticeably absent. She pretends to stretch her neck and catches sight of it again on the adjacent end of the bath.

She soaks for a few more minutes so as to avoid suspicion, then showers quickly and follows Ino through the door. On her right, where the light had initially been, she glances sidelong at the floor, squinting to make out the shape through the fog. She sees the muddy outline of a large boot print.

By the time she changes and makes it back to the room, Ino has calmed down somewhat, though she still watches Sakura's every move suspiciously.

 _Switch. Now._

( _Yeah, yeah…_ )

Ino notices the change, as obvious to her now as night and day, and relaxes.

"You know," she grumbles, "you're other half seems to be getting more and more perverted as time goes on."

Sakura blushes at that. "I know. I'm sorry – she doesn't mean anything by it, I promise, it's just her personality."

"Yeah, I figured."

As casually as possible, Sakura draws the curtains closed and then quietly checks the lock on the door before coming to sit down on the bed. Ino, noticing the behavior, waits patiently for her to speak.

"There was someone else in the bath."

"I thought I felt another presence in there," she says thoughtfully, "but I couldn't pinpoint it or anything. What did you see?"

Sakura describes the odd light and the footprint. By the time she finishes, Ino is scowling.

"Oh, yuck. It was definitely a handheld video camera."

"I've never seen one of those," Sakura admits, immediately curious.

"That's probably because they're really expensive. I'm guessing that the sickos must be selling tapes of underage girls for a lot of money."

"Oh." She cringes at the thought.

"Yeah. All the more reason to catch them quickly - but that can wait until tomorrow. I'm beat."

"Me too," Sakura agrees, about to go to bed herself until she remembers that there is only one bed and a few blankets, not nearly enough to pad the hard floor. Darn. The receptionist's desk is probably closed by now, so there'll be no hope of extra bedding. She resigns herself to discomfort and goes to lay down on the floor but finds herself staring at Ino, who has leaned over the edge of the bed to give her a half-confused, half-annoyed look.

"What are you doing?"

"…Sleeping?"

"What? Do you think I have cooties or something? Seriously, Sakura," Ino snaps – and there it is again, that strangely short fuse that's developed for reasons unknown. Officially cowed, Sakura climbs into the bed and crawls under the sheets without a word.

About an hour later, in a half-asleep state, she opens her eyes to find the bathroom light on and the door open. Ino is standing on her tippy-toes with her back to the mirror, glancing over her shoulder at her reflection. The reflection of her butt.

( _Wow. I didn't really mean what I said in the bath_. _Normally she wouldn't think twice about it._ )

 _I know, you're right…_

What is going on? They both wonder, but speculation is best saved for a time when judgment isn't clouded by exhaustion. Sakura closes her eyes again and snuggles into the pillow, asleep in seconds.

* * *

#

 _Feedback?_


	16. Paid Vacation: Part II

Chapter 15

"Paid Vacation: Part II"

...

By the time Ino finishes dragging them through the other half of the shopping district, Sakura's wallet is emptier than empty. She'd managed to pare down the recommended purchases to just a few things: two shirts, two pairs of pants, and a casual dress that she suspects she'll never wear but that Ino insisted she buy. She's so broke that when Ino suggests they eat lunch at a café, Sakura only orders an appetizer, and therein begins the first disagreement of the day.

"I feel like a fatass now," Ino grumbles, glaring at her entrée.

Her mood immediately sours. Sakura, in an attempt to salvage it, offers to split the meal with her, but Ino simply refuses with the declaration that she isn't hungry anymore. So, being ravenous, Sakura eats the whole delicious steaming bowl of udon while Ino tries not to stare jealously, which just makes them both feel terrible for different reasons. To top it off, Ino doesn't eat anything else, and hunger has never been conducive to happiness.

Whatever is going on with her seems to be getting steadily worse. It's reaching the point that Sakura is nervous she'll be reprimanded every time she opens her mouth, or even if she doesn't, and she spends most of the afternoon trying to think of ways to get back into Ino's good graces. It's obvious that her friend is annoyed with her for whatever reason, if only she'd just tell her why.

The next time is worse. They're discussing plans to take down the targets tonight when Ino looks down and realizes she'd somehow gotten dirt enmeshed into the fabric of her skirt. She watches Sakura place her hand over the stain, close her eyes, and then hold out a palm full of dust extracted from where the stain had once been.

"I've been practicing as much as I can," she admits. "My control is getting better now, I can even – see?" She clenches her fist, pulsing her chakra through it. When she reopens her hand, the small pile of dust has amalgamated into a small, hard rock, much to Ino's amazement... And frustration. Sakura looks at her with big, pleading eyes, craving her approval, but Ino's response is decidedly unenthusiastic. She stands from the bed and goes to her suitcase to rummage for hairpins.

"You must've practiced a lot."

It's not the response Sakura hoped for. Disappointed, she places the smooth pebble on the bedside stand and doesn't mention it again.

 _What did I do wrong?_

( _You didn't do anything wrong_ ,) her other self reassures her, though she sounds equally confused. ( _Whatever this is, it's Ino, not you_.)

She glances at Ino, who is sorting out the weapons small enough to be hidden in her hair. Ino doesn't even glance at her; she's frowning, her face set in a serious expression.

 _But she wouldn't be mad at me for no reason, right?_

( _I guess not, but…_ )

Then why? Sakura desperately wants to ask. Although she masks it well and can shove down the hurt every time, that doesn't mean it isn't happening. Ino's rebuffs and criticisms sting acutely each and every time. It's not something she thinks she could ever get used to. Still, though, she doesn't ask, too afraid of what will probably be a defensive and diversionary answer, if Ino's recent behavior is anything to go by.

They hardly speak for the rest of the day. After the plan is settled on, Ino busies herself preparing – over preparing, really, to the point where she's checked their supplies and reread the mission scroll a dozen times. It's obvious she's avoiding Sakura. And Sakura, meanwhile, exists uncomfortably in a constant state of anxiety over what offensive thing she's done, and why Ino is so angry, and what she can possibly do to fix it.

Twice, when she catches Ino staring critically at her own reflection, she tries to compliment her, but both times her words are somehow turned around and made to sound like insults. It's bad enough that even her inner self is noticeably uneasy. Eventually out of distractions, Ino goes to wander the town for a few hours, leaving Sakura to fester in her emotional disquiet. When Ino returns laden down with shopping bags just after the sun has set, she seems calmer.

"Are you ready?" She asks without preamble. Sakura merely nods.

They change, shower, and wait in the baths. This time, Ino keeps her eyes open too, and they both search through the fog as discreetly as possible. It isn't long before Sakura catches sight of the blinking light of the video camera, and after a few more minutes of soaking, she stands.

"I think I'm overheating," she says lightly. "Do you want to stay a while longer?"

"Yeah, I'm still sore. I'll meet you in the room in about half an hour?"

"Sounds good!"

Sakura rinses off once more and then heads inside to change. She walks into the hotel lobby and presses her body into the dark, far corner of the room to cast her genjutsu. With silent footsteps, she heads back into the bath, stealthily sneaking up to where the camera had been.

It's so steamy she nearly walks right into the man holding it and has to stifle her gasp of surprise. He's neither lanky nor burly, but stout, folded into himself in the corner of the bath with the camera in hand. As they speculated earlier in the day, she comes to the conclusion that there must be several different men, or groups of men, to account for the varying descriptions. There's a narrow gap in the fence behind him.

 _That must be where he's coming and going from._

Curiously, she peers at the device in his hand. The small screen is popped open from the side of the camera, revealing the images being recorded, and there's a hot flash of anger at seeing Ino's form there. Captured to be sold to some pervert. She'll have to remember to take the tapes, she decides.

Ino stands and goes back inside as planned. The man waits another few minutes before folding the screen back into the camera and making a hasty retreat through the opening in the fence. Sakura follows closely behind, carefully maintaining the illusion. She steps through the gap and finds herself in a narrow alley where the target is busy rewinding through the footage on the camera.

"Damn," he sighs, probably disappointed that there hadn't been any breast comparisons today. He tucks the technology into the pocket of his black zip-up jacket and strolls casually down the alley with Sakura not far behind.

He removes the mask obscuring his face before entering the glow of the streetlights. As soon as he steps onto the path, Sakura studies him carefully. A vague sense of recognition ignites at the sight of his prematurely aged features.

( _Did we pass him on the street or something?_ )

 _Maybe. I can't remember…_

The evening traffic is heavy as tourists wander the stands in search of food and entertainment. Sakura finds herself having to duck and weave like a boxer in order to make her way through without bumping into anyone and potentially blowing her cover. Thankfully, the man seems to be in no particular hurry, taking his time to admire the sights (read: women) on the way to his destination.

It's a little over a mile before the crowd begins to thin, the bustling market yielding to rows of small houses with increasingly larger spaces between them. There are few storefronts here on this edge of town, only the occasional convenience store or local bar, and this is where he stops. He steps into a building whose sign simply reads, "BAR." The inside is as understated as the name of the place: a long wooden bar top, half-a-dozen stools, and two short tables for card games.

"Kenji! How you been?" The bartender calls out cheerily. He's young and vaguely handsome enough that he seems almost anachronistic in comparison to the rest of the place.

"Oh, you know," Kenji waves a hand to indicate the usual. He leans heavily on the counter as the bartender grabs him a beer, sliding it his way.

"Work going well, I imagine?"

Kenji nods. "Tedious as usual, though. I might like to sell the shop soon and move on to something else."

"You've been saying that for years," the bartender laughs good-naturedly. "But I guess that means the bookshop must be booming now, huh?"

 _Oh!_ Sakura remembers suddenly. She and Ino had stepped into the store only briefly yesterday afternoon, but she can recall the quiet clerk behind the counter, his nose buried in a novel. There'd been a few movies for sale there, too, the old style of VHS tapes, but nothing that would indicate underage nudity.

( _He must be selling the shady stuff under the guise of his regular business_.)

Kenji smiles wearily. His eyes shift away from the rather innocent expression on the other man's face. "Yeah, it's going well. Are the guys here, by the way?"

"They're in the back room. Do you want me to bring another round of beers?"

"Not yet," Kenji gestures at his full bottle. "You know how they can get when they drink too much."

The bartender frowns, putting down his rag and the glass he'd been drying for the whole duration of their talk. He glances sideways at the door to the backroom and speaks quietly.

"I don't know what you're up to, Kenji, and I won't ask. But I do hope you're being careful. You know what those guys are capable of."

"I know," he agrees softly. "I'll be careful."

Kenji starts towards the backroom and opens the door. Sakura peeks in the gap to get a look at the room's contents. She catches sight of a large table strewn with cards, some mostly empty bottles of beer, and about a dozen men before the door swings shut behind him.

As soon as the bartender is assuredly distracted, Sakura slips noiselessly out the exit.

#

She finds Ino sitting on the bed and bouncing her leg agitatedly. After checking the locks and the curtains, Sakura only has enough time to breathe a sigh of relief before Ino stands, apparently ready to move on to the next step. In one hand she holds up her typical ninja uniform, and in the other, a dress.

"So, which is it?"

"The dress."

Ino throws her usual outfit back into her bag. Sakura turns to face the wall as she strips. "How did it go?"

"It went well," Sakura shrugs. "But I think this is a little more complicated than we expected."

"Complicated how?"

"The guy selling the videos is actually the owner of a bookstore – remember the one with the green logo stamped all over the front?" Ino mumbles something in the affirmative, her mouth full of cloth as she adjusts the outfit. "But he also seems to be working with some dangerous people, making deals of some kind. He's trying to earn enough money to sell his shop and move elsewhere, so my guess is that he's hiring people to take and distribute the footage for him so he can grow his… um, business. Either that, or _he's_ being hired by _them_."

"Jeez," Ino grumbles. It's amazing that she can talk and apply lip gloss at the same time. "This guy can't get any worse, can he?"

"It is pretty bad, but then again, he's just trying to improve his life…"

Ino rolls her eyes agitatedly. "Don't be so naïve. That's hardly an excuse for exploiting women."

"I – I know, but…" Sakura gives up on the argument before it starts. She hadn't meant to defend him, merely make a point, but it's not worth the fight.

She waits patiently for Ino to finish getting ready. They're on a time limit of sorts, since they don't know how long Kenji will be at the bar, but she's not about to rush her friend when she's clearly in a bad mood. Besides, Ino is the one that's taking the reigns for this plan, and she knows far better than Sakura when she'll be fully prepared.

They'd initially hoped that this "spying on women in the bath" thing involved only a few perverts they could simply take down and haul to the police. After learning that the peeping involved videotaping, however, they rightfully suspected the phenomenon was less motivated by perversion than by money, in which case there had to be more people involved. After all, a business like this needs several branches in order to operate: cameramen, salesmen, distributors, lookouts, a false store front, which means fake employees to keep cover…

Whoever assigned them the mission obviously hadn't thought about that possibility, assuming as she and Ino had that the perpetrators were nothing but your average sicko, but both girls agreed they wouldn't leave without finishing their task. That being said, doing so is becoming increasingly convoluted. They don't know who the ringleader is or how far the operation extends, and it's unlikely that sort of information could be gleaned simply by spying – at least, not over the few short days they had left. Since using force would only push the group further into hiding, they agreed they'd have to extract the information out of them through coercion.

Hence Ino's primping.

It's a solid plan: Ino approaches the group on the premise of having heard rumors about their business, she offers herself and some imaginary friends up in exchange for money, and then she agrees to strike a deal with their leader, who will then expose himself. From there, they either take the group down themselves or head back to the village to have the mission reassigned to a B-rank, in which case it would be out of their hands.

They'd discussed it at length. Sakura tried to protest at one point that, with the mission clearly having been underestimated, they should simply return home and have it reassigned to a chunin, but Ino insisted that they should handle it. The village can hardly spare higher-ranked shinobi at the moment, and it's not like the risks are very high. It's possible some defunct, rogue genin are acting as bodyguards, but no ninja of higher skill would bother with such a plan when there'd be far better money to make as a mercenary.

Sakura's only other worry was more of a curiosity than an actual concern, but of course that'd blown up in her face.

"Have you ever done reconnaissance before?" Sakura had asked, to which Ino had responded,

"What? You don't think I can do it?"

And Sakura had promptly shut her mouth.

So, away they go, Sakura cloaked and following Ino down the streets, and Ino walking nonchalantly along as if she's in no hurry at all. Thus far she _does_ seem to be quite an actress, but Sakura isn't exactly waiting for proof. She has the utmost faith in her friend's abilities, experience or not. And her outfit is certainly convincing too.

Ino's dress is _just_ long enough to cover her rear if she bends over. The fabric is white cotton with a dark blue flower print, something she'd said would make her appear younger, and the ties consists solely of laced strings that expose most her back, which she'd said would make her look sexier. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun to compliment both effects.

Even if the targets don't trust her immediately, Sakura is absolutely positive they'll at least entertain her questions for a while. Who could resist such a sight?

( _Certainly not you…_ )

 _Thanks. Just – thanks for that._

( _I'm just pointing out the obvious…_ )

When Ino enters the bar, the bartender gives her an up-and-down, probably trying to guess her age, but she speaks before he can ask.

"Hi!" She greets, seemingly oblivious to his confusion. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm looking for the owner of the bookstore downtown, Ken… Kenji-san, I think? Someone told me he came this way."

The bartender continues to stare at her in silence. She meets his gaze, her smile in place and her expression not faltering for an instant under his scrutiny.

 _She's good._

( _Makes you worry a little, huh?_ )

"Why are you looking for him?" He asks carefully. He wipes down the counter in a way that might've appeared unconcerned if only his motion hadn't been tellingly restricted to a tight circle over one corner.

"Um," Ino hesitates. Her eyes drift down and away from his face, and is it really possible, Sakura wonders, to _make_ yourself blush? "I-it's… kind of personal. I'd like to speak to him directly, if you could tell me where he is? I think I might…"

"Sorry?" He leans forward, not catching the end of her sentence.

"Have something he wants," Ino repeats bashfully.

The bartender raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't ask. Instead, he goes to the back room and knocks five times in a peculiar pattern. The door swings open after half-a-minute, nearly knocking him over, and it's not Kenji that comes through.

A man, about six feet tall, stands in the doorway. A cigarette hangs out of his mouth. Sakura counts two knives on his belt and one in his boot. It's odd, she thinks, that the crescent-moon shaped scar under his eye exactly matches the serration of the blade on his left side. Maybe he took it from whoever inflicted the wound…

"What the hell do you want?"

The bartender bows. "This young lady here says she has something Kenji might be interested in."

"What could…?"

He trails off as he catches sight of Ino. She looks convincingly intimidated in the middle of the room. His brow furrows, and he steps toward her, his steel-toed boots thunking heavily enough on the wooden floor to rattle the barstools. When he's within a few feet of her, she takes a fearful step backward. The man bends down to get a better look. His eyes travel appreciatively from her beautiful face, to the shaking hands clutched at her chest, to the soft skin of her long legs –

( _Let's kill him_.)

Sakura doesn't agree. She also doesn't disagree.

"Yeah," the man laughs gruffly. "I bet she does. What's your name, girl?"

"Sato Asuna."

"Well, Asuna-chan, why don't you follow me? Kenji's in the back with the rest of us."

He holds the door open for her in a surprisingly chivalrous gesture. Sakura has to bend awkwardly and practically leap through the door to make it inside before it swings shut, and her foot makes the _slightest_ of thumps when she lands, but no one seems to notice. It's a good sign. Any shinobi worth his salt would've heard it.

"Hey, Kenji," he tilts his head toward the short, rather nervous looking man seated at the far end of the table. "Asuna-chan here says she's got a proposition for you."

All of them, a total of ten men, turn to stare at Ino. She shrinks appropriately under their gazes as she begins to speak. Kenji looks outright terrified by the fact that there are rumors circulating about his rather unsavory dealings, scared enough to nearly throw her out, but Ino explains she heard it from a friend of someone who'd been a customer of his, and that her intention isn't to reveal him, merely to offer her… services.

The big guy, Goro, is the one that answers. "What kind of services are we talking about?"

"My friends and I need money," Ino admits shyly. "We thought we could star in your videos for a small fee. Pretend to take baths and all that…"

They all turn to each other as if expecting the guy one seat over to have an answer. Ino fiddles with the hem of her dress with faux nervousness. She searches around the smoky room for a sign of acceptance on any of their faces, and finally, Goro shrugs.

"It sounds like a good idea to me. Better than sneaking around these baths, anyway. What do you guys think?" There are quiet murmurs of agreement around the table, and then he turns back to Ino. Smoke seeps out of his mouth with each word. "How much were you hoping to get paid?"

"I'm… not really sure. Maybe I could work it out with your boss? Sign a contract of some sort?"

Goro laughs. "You're looking at him."

"Oh!" Ino's tone is apologetic. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize. So, I guess that the profits are just split amongst the ten of you, is that right?"

"Yep, just us for now. Why don't we start working out the details, little lady? How many friends you say you got, and how old are they?"

Goro is so unthreatened by Ino's small stature and seemingly harmless demeanor that he doesn't even wonder at her question. Instead, he merely slides his beer off of a wet piece of paper and pats his pockets down for a pen, but when she doesn't respond by the time he's found it, he finally turns to her.

She's still smiling at him. "I'm glad that you're all here together."

Now, Goro's eyes narrow suspiciously. "And why's that?"

"So I don't have to go hunting any of you down," Ino finishes gleefully. She rips her hairband from its place, and out of the bun tumbles a full set of shurikan and two kunai. She launches the former, the men scattering, but the room is too small to avoid them all. One man goes down, one clutches an injured arm, and Ino is already slashing at another.

Sakura switches personalities, breaking the genjutsu and jumping into the fight. She gets exactly one punch in before Ino stops her with a furious shout.

"I got it!"

Sakura, standing over the one man she'd downed, freezes. Normally she'd be arguing right back, but it looks like Ino does, in fact, 'got it.'

It's more like a drunken brawl than anything else. Ino jumps onto the table and snaps her heel into the skull of the man with the injured arm, knocking him out, and then uses the rest of her momentum to twist out of the way of someone's grabbing hands. She pushes the handle of the kunai into his temple and sends him crashing to the floor.

Four down, six to go.

By now the rest of the group has realized they're getting their asses kicked by a teenage girl, and properly infuriated and indignant, they rise from their positions cowering under the table. One leaps at her, and another behind her reaches for her hair. She steps neatly out of the way and grabs the back of one man's shirt, throwing him into the outstretched hands of the other. He flies back into the wall, his head smacking into it heavily.

It's Goro that manages to grab her wrist. She looks down at the point of contact with a level of disgust usually warranted for nonhuman entities.

"Don't fucking touch me," she snaps. Ino grabs the one intact chair in the room, a flimsy wooden construction, and swings it over her head, sending it crashing down on top of his skull in a mess of broken wood and splinters. She's left with only the leg of the chair, the rest of it having all but exploded at the force of her blow, and as Goro tries to stand again, she smacks him over the head with it.

He doesn't get up again.

Taking advantage of the distraction, one of the four remaining men sneaks up from under the table and manages to get a hold of her ankle. A comrade follows suit and grabs the other. They pull at the same time, sending Ino falling onto her butt, and as they rear back to punch her, she throws her hands to her face and gasps.

"Don't hit me!"

The sound of her distinctly feminine plead stills both men. They look at each other, then at Ino, then at each other, and then at Ino, whose face suddenly contorts into a sly smile.

"Just kidding!"

They're both still holding onto her ankles, but their grips have loosened. She rolls unto her back and sends the toes of her boots into their chins. Their heads snap back and they fall limply into the wall.

Two left.

One of them looks terribly unsure of himself. The other, however, is too pissed – and drunk, judging by the smell of him – to fully comprehend the fact that the girl in front of him just incapacitated eight full-grown men, some of whom had been triple her weight.

"You fucking bitch," he shouts, jumping at her, and she tuts disapprovingly.

"That's not very nice."

Meanwhile, Sakura watches this display with no small amount of awe. She and her other half have switched back in order to regain their invisibility, not wanting to get in the way, and she can only sit back and observe Ino fly through this group of men like an acrobat of death, kicking and punching, throwing and taunting and generally being very, very angry. And it's not like she doesn't have a reason to be, what with this group's line of business, but it seems to be more than that. The level of her rage feels almost personal. It's really as worrying as it is amazing to watch her take out her frustrations on these people. Sakura can't help the nagging thoughts: What has her so pissed off? Does it have to do with why she's been so short-tempered? Is there anything she can do to help? What if –

( _Man this is hot_.)

 _Do you ever think about anything else?!_

( _How could I?! She's being such a badass!_ )

 _But aren't you worried? Something is obviously wrong._

The enraged man's approach is stumbling and clumsy. Ino takes her time beating him down with the leg of the chair still in her hand. She jabs the end of it into his stomach, winding him, and when he doubles over, she sends her knee into his chin. His head snaps back only to be smacked to the side with the beam of wood. Still struggling, he flails into a somewhat upright position and swings wildly at her face, and finally, she rams the smooth end of the chair leg – because she's feeling nice – into his temple.

And then there was one.

His eyes dart wildly between Ino and the door.

"How fast do you think you are?" She asks casually. In response, he charges for the exit, but he doesn't make it three steps before she's standing in front of him.

"Not fast enough," she singsongs. Then she knocks him out with a simple blow to the head.

None left.

Ino looks around the room. Satisfied with her work, she flips her hair over her shoulder to gather it back into its bun. She's hardly even broken a sweat. In fact, the whole brawl took less than five minutes.

Sakura breaks the genjutsu to help secure their victims, and Ino hums a happy tune that Sakura can't help but find unsettling considering the group of unconscious bodies at their feet.

"Um, Ino?" She ventures. "Are you okay?"

"Of course! I didn't even get hit."

"…Right, but… that's not really what I meant."

"Thanks for your concern," Ino snaps, "but I'm fine. Just evening the score a little."

 _The score?_

( _Is she talking about…?_ )

 _Our competition during the chunin exams? But why?_

( _Hell if I know._ )

"I'm going to inform the barkeeper and call the cops. You wait here."

Ino is out the door before Sakura can answer.

#

The police make quick work of the cleanup. They thank both girls profusely, if a little confusedly, having a hard time believing that such young girls, kunoichi or not, could take down the full group of men. When Ino impatiently explains that she's killed people bigger than them and in less time, they quickly drop it.

Whatever emotional relief Ino achieved from the fight dissipates quickly. She heads back to the hotel to clean up, though she isn't dirtied in the slightest, leaving Sakura to her own devices for food. Thankfully the abundance of tourists have made Yunosato's late night scene vibrant and lively. Most places are still open despite that it's nearing ten-thirty at night. She takes her time perusing the food vendors with the cheapest meals. It's obvious that Ino hadn't been in the mood to spend time with her, and while that thought stings, Sakura's not about to argue about it.

...But it _does_ sting. She wrings her hands and paces back and forth in front of the stores, worrying, for nearly half an hour. After fifteen more minutes, one of the shopkeepers impatiently asks her if she's going to buy anything, and she leaves only to wind up doing the same thing a few stores down.

 _Do you think I should bring her some food?_

Her inner self responds skeptically. ( _Why? So she can use it as an excuse to say that you're calling her fat?_ )

… _Maybe you're right._ _But she hasn't eaten anything all day._

( _Your choice, but I'm not the one that's going to offer it to her._ )

Sakura sighs quietly. _That's fine_.

It takes longer than she would've liked to actually decide on what to eat. At first she'd taken her time to give Ino more space, but when she finally focuses her attention on choosing, Sakura is at a loss. She's never had to consider whether or not someone might find her food choices potentially offensive based on any qualities other than taste. Now, she hesitates over fat content, questions calories, and tries desperately to remember what current fad diet Ino has adopted.

( _Wasn't it the one where you only eat one color of food?_ )

 _No, that was last month_. _She ordered yakitori yesterday, though, so maybe low-carb?_

( _But she ordered that udon you ate for lunch_.)

 _Maybe I should just get that, then? And some purin? That's her favorite…_

( _Ugh_ ), Inner Sakura groans, ( _why do I feel like we're trying to buy food for our moody, pregnant wife? If it's going to be_ _ **this**_ _difficult, then we should've at least gotten to do the baby-making too._ )

Sakura stills with her hand on a plastic container of nabeyaki udon.

 _We can't even do that!_

( _Says you!_ )

 _Says_ _ **science**_ _!_

( _What about that gender bending jutsu of Naruto's? I bet if we reversed it – )_

"Miss? Miss, are you alright? Do you need a doctor?"

Sakura raises her eyes to face the very concerned looking vendor. She must've been standing there motionlessly for some time now as all the blood rushed to her head with enough force to nearly keel her over. Even some passersby slowed down to stare, whispering quietly to each other about the strange girl looking unbelievably embarrassed as she stares down a container of noodles. Sakura can admit it's an odd sight.

"Uhhhhh," she says intelligently. "…Yes! Yes, I'm fine, thank you, um, do you have any purin, by chance?"

Stiffly, she drops the two meals onto the counter. The vendor is still eyeing her strangely, but he doesn't ask again. He merely adds the two desserts to her bill and sends her on her way.

#

After a very short walk and a very long lecture concerning the inappropriateness of thinking about such things in public (or _ever_ ), Sakura arrives back at the hotel room and sets the food down on the nightstand. The lights are on but the room is empty. She finds a note on the bed – _went to the bath, be back later_.

( _We should go too!_ )

Sakura has absolutely no intention of doing that. She sits down and is already breaking apart a pair of chopsticks.

 _She obviously wants to be alone._

( _Aw, come on_ ), her inner whines. ( _We can eat later! Since we finished the mission early, that probably means we're leaving tomorrow, right? When's the next time we're going to be able to enjoy an onsen like this?_ )

 _That's a fair point_ , Sakura admits, frowning at her still sealed dinner.

( _Yeah! And besides, Ino's probably been down there a while already. If she wants to be alone that badly then she'll just come back to the room, right?_ )

 _I guess…_

Sakura deliberates for a little longer. She has no desire to interrupt Ino's solitude, but there really is no telling when the next time they'll be able to enjoy such a therapeutic hot spring will be, and it's not like she's going to go down there expecting Ino to hang out with her. Some relaxing time in the water is all she wants, so would it really be that much of a disturbance…?

At the insistent urging and reassurances of her other half, Sakura finally agrees to leave the food for later. She changes and enters the bath, showering at the far end before approaching the spring. There haven't been any signs of another person's presence yet, but just as she's stepping into the water, she hears a noise of frustration from the wider end of the spring. She wades through the water and finds Ino by the furthest wall.

Her arms are outstretched, her eyes closed and brow furrowed in concentration. She lowers her hands to the surface of the water so that her fingertips are just barely submerged. Her frown deepens, and the water swirls gently, rippling outward in tiny undulations. Ino stays like that for a long minute. She grits her teeth and turns her palms toward each other, and Sakura watches the water collect between her hands in a liquid sphere. It holds its shape as Ino separates the ball of water from the rest of the spring, but just as she manages to pull it up to chest level, it begins to trickle out of her control. Then, all at once, it falls back into the pool with a splash.

"Damnit," she hisses, running a hand through her hair irritably.

Sakura, however, is impressed. "That was really good," she says without thinking.

Ino, startled by the other girl's presence, squeaks with surprise before covering her mouth to stop the rest of the scream. She'd been concentrating so hard she hadn't noticed Sakura enter the bath, which is just another frustrating failure to heap on top of all her others.

"Thanks," she says shortly. Her fingers are trembling. She's been trying since she got back to the hotel, and when she speaks again, her tone heavy with bitterness, "Not as good as you, though."

She hadn't really meant to say it, but Ino's never been well suited to internalizing her feelings. Sakura, meanwhile, just looks confused.

"You're only a little bit off," she explains quietly. "Do you want me to show you?"

"Don't tell me you're _also_ somehow water-natured?"

Despite Ino's hostile tone, Sakura remains patient. "That's not what I mean. For something like this, it's more about control than the element. If you let me… here."

Sakura wades to where Ino is standing and stops directly in front of her. Ino's hands are still submerged in the water, and tentatively, looking at Ino for permission, she wraps her own hands around Ino's.

"Okay," Sakura nods. "Now try."

Ino looks skeptical but obliges anyway. She inhales deeply, closes her eyes, and focuses her chakra into her hands and fingertips, pushing it out of her body and into the water. It's difficult to maintain the chakra's shape once it's no longer a part of her, and she struggles to keep her control over it. Some of the chakra disperses uselessly into the liquid, and with an irritated tug, she manages to yank the rest of it back, shaping it between her hands until it resembles a sphere once more.

She raises her arms. Once again, she gets it to chest level, but the tricky part is holding it there. Maintaining the water's form, with its odd gravity and the necessary pressure needed to steady its shape against the much dryer air, is incredibly difficult. She has to pull it just so, push it just so, and resist the natural tendency of the liquid to slide or drip without using so much force that it simply slides out of her control like squeezing water out between one's fingers.

This is exactly what starts to happen, after a moment. The surface of her liquid sphere trembles unsteadily as she struggles to find the correct pressure. She's unable to nail down the exactitude needed until, suddenly, she does. It's like bumping one's nose into a brick wall and then finding that there's simply an easy, unobstructed path to the left – one that Sakura is leading her to, manipulating Ino's chakra through their joint hands.

Ino stares at her oddly, and Sakura ducks her head, explaining softly, "Once you realize how to do it, it's really easy to replicate since you know what to look for. Now that I've shown you, I'm sure you can do it on your own."

Her voice is gentle and subdued. She's obviously nervous that Ino will snap at her, which is indeed her first reflex, because the way Sakura is explaining it implies that she thinks Ino must be an idiot – except that's not really the case at all. Sakura's just trying to be helpful. She's just trying to be comforting. She's just being a great mission partner, a patient teacher without an ounce of pretentiousness or ego, an awesome friend, and Ino is…

 _When did I get so petty?_

Ino stares into the liquid sphere and frowns. She's stuck on the fact that she hadn't figured it out first, and that she can't punch through walls, and that she hadn't made it to the finals of the chunin exam. But even knowing how unreasonable that is, she can't figure out a way around it. The jealousy and the feelings of inadequacy are foreign – she has no idea how to handle them. They tangle in a confused knot in her brain, a matted mess of emotions and thoughts that she can't unwind.

Even now, she can feel it against the back of her skull like a dozen whispering voices driving her to anger. Sakura is still staring at her with apprehensive eyes, and Ino can see all the emotions there, all the shades of green. Sakura's hands cup hers in a loose, unsure grip, until they start to slide downward. One goes up to her shoulder, and her head lowers in an old familiar habit, the urge to hide herself. Sakura's eyes dart between the surface of the water and Ino's pensive face. She looks nearly terrified.

Ino, meanwhile, is so frustrated by her inability to figure out what she's feeling and why that she doesn't realize she's been successfully – and thoughtlessly – maintaining the shape of the water cupped at her chest for quite some time now. She's too busy being pissed at herself for failing to control her apparently unexplainable emotions. She's _supposed_ to be an expert at it, at all matters of the mind, and especially when it comes to her own, so _what the hell is wrong with me?_

All she's managed to do is run herself in circles about it. Her anger builds as she catalogues her relative shortcomings, as she thinks about how the girl in front of her can be so strong and so humble at the same time, so talented and simultaneously so insecure, and now Ino is thinking, the vexation building and building all the while, is it _also_ possible that Sakura might be _prettier_ than her too? Because that would just be unfair.

In a surge of anger, the ball of water explodes, splashing them both.

"I-Ino? Are you – "

"Thank you for showing me." Ino's tone is clipped and impatient. "I'll be inside packing. We should leave early in the morning."

Without another word, Ino turns away, trying to hold on to her negativity and ignore the hurt, tearful look on Sakura's face. She even manages to do so while she changes, and all the way up to the room, and right up until she finds dinner and her favorite dessert sitting thoughtfully on the desk, and then she can't anymore.

"What. The hell." Ino flops down on the bed. She ignores the fact that her still wet hair is going to dampen the pillow.

Anyone that knows her can attest to her quick temper and sometimes explosive personality, but those same people would be the first to defend her character as one that is equally, fiercely loyal, compassionate, and emotionally aware despite her impatience. Ino is not someone who loses her cool even when she appears to be doing just that.

Except for now. Now, she's totally lost it. Like, "tripped and stumbled and accidentally kicked it down a bottomless pit" kind of lost it.

When Sakura returns to the room with a determined look on her face and asks her what's wrong in a tone that is less demanding than desperate, which just makes Ino feel worse, Ino knows she deserves an answer for the way she's been treating her.

And this is another thing, though – why can't she just say it? Ino's been chastised a hundred times for openly speaking her mind and not once for being indirect. Finally fed up with her inability to maintain her own self-concept, Ino rolls over on the mattress to face Sakura and says bluntly,

"No one has ever made me doubt myself like you do."

Predictably, Sakura hears this and interprets it to mean that she's done something wrong. "I – I don't mean to! Whatever it is that I'm doing, I'll –"

"It's not your fault," Ino interrupts her with a sigh. "It's me. I'm just…" _Recently unable to finish my sentences_ , she thinks wryly. She reaches for the purin and a plastic spoon because everyone knows that sugar is the cure for all emotional ailments.

Sakura hesitantly takes a seat on the end of the bed, looking very much like a scolded puppy, and waits for Ino to finish.

"Have you just been hiding it your whole life?" Ino asks exasperatedly. At Sakura's confused look, she continues, "I mean, I had the highest overall ranking in the academy behind Sasuke, but here you are, kicking ass at everything, and I'm just wondering, were you keeping all your talent a secret on purpose? You aren't trying to get revenge by shoving the fact that you're better than me in my face, are you? Because I know I should've stepped in when people were treating you like crap at the academy, but I already apologized for that –"

"N-no!" Sakura interrupts, waving her hands in front of her defensively. "Not at all! I'm not mad about that anymore, and I don't – neither me, nor Sakura, thinks that we're better than you. Not even a little, I swear!"

Ino scoffs. "How can that be true? I've never been around anyone that makes me feel so inadequate. You learn faster than me, you have more skills than I do, you're a better fighter, _and_ you beat me in the chunin exams. I mean, fuck it," Ino stabs her spoon angrily into the pudding as if it were the source of her anger, "you're probably a better person than me too. You're always doing nice things for me when I didn't lift a damn finger to help you when you needed it."

"But it doesn't matter!" Sakura shouts desperately. As if surprised by her own volume, she slaps a hand over her own mouth.

"How can that not matter?"

Sakura looks down unsurely and doesn't answer. She seems to be having a conversation with herself, and probably is. Ino gives her as much time as she needs. She's not in a particular hurry to hear about why she sucks and why that's apparently okay. When the pudding is gone, she grabs the lukewarm udon and devours it without hesitation, diet be damned.

"I don't believe that I'm better than you at anything," Sakura says slowly, lifting her head, "because I'm only anything at all now because of you."

Ino snorts skeptically. "I doubt that."

"It's true. If it hadn't been for you, Sakura and I would've never learned how to work together. I know she wouldn't have meant to, but I was unstable, and we were unbalanced, and I've spent most of my life believing that I amount to nothing. I think that… eventually," she says hesitantly, "she probably would've taken over. I might have disappeared."

That, Ino thinks, is more true than she knows. A dissociative disorder like Sakura's, with two starkly different personalities and one overcome with depression, had only a marginal chance to settle into anything healthy or functional, let alone advantageous. She'd taken the time to do some research and look into the psychology behind such an emotional break, the consequences, and the intense, prolonged trauma that usually causes it. Sakura's theory is entirely plausible.

And it's also true that nobody else seemed to be interested in helping her. Naruto hardly has the patience or the knowledge, too absorbed in his rivalry with Sasuke. Sasuke would be even less likely. Kakashi evidently hadn't been willing to do it since he'd been the one that asked Ino.

The thought makes her heart sink. If she hadn't interfered, if she'd rejected Kakashi's request, the sweet and thoughtful girl in front of her might not exist. The realization makes her more sad than proud.

"It's not just that, either," Sakura continues. "My other half, even if she'll never admit it, fights so hard and competes with you because she admires you. She wants to be on your level and for you to see her as an equal – it's not because she wants to show off. Well, not completely, anyway," she amends. "And I…"

She stops, struggling with her shyness. Ino puts the empty bowl on the bedside table and sits up, giving the other girl her full attention, which only seems to make her more nervous. Eventually, Sakura finishes the thought anyway, though she doesn't look up from the crumpled bedspread.

"The only reason I've been able to do anything – the only reason I _can_ – is because of you. You're the most important person in my life," she admits quietly, "and everything I learn now, and every hour I spend training, is motivated by my desire to be stronger for that reason. Not to protect you," she says immediately, noticing the look on Ino's face, "but to fight by your side. If I didn't have you, I couldn't fight at all. That's what I was trying to tell you when we were pursuing Sasuke. Whatever I've accomplished so far, and whatever I accomplish in the future, will always be as a result of you. For that reason, I could never be better than you. I'd never want to be."

Ino listens silently. Her stomach sinks further at every word.

Sakura's admission is touching and saddening to the point that her heart constricts in her chest. The guilt is enormous – she's been treating Sakura like crap for no reason, and she should've realized that neither of Sakura's personalities would ever look at her as if she were inferior. It doesn't suit either of them, and neither had ever even seriously hinted it.

It's all been in her head, which she should've figured out long ago.

This time, thankfully, the regret does not make her angry, only determined. She still doesn't feel as if she's deserving of that kind of admiration from Sakura – no matter what she says, Ino isn't arrogant enough to dismiss the fact that Sakura really does have a more well-rounded set of talents and skills. But that's something she's going to have to work through herself, she acknowledges, and in the meantime, Sakura is hardly deserving of anything but kindness.

"I'm sorry." Ino scoots forward on the bed to wrap the other girl in a hug. "I should've realized you wouldn't think of me that way, and I shouldn't have treated you so badly because of my own insecurities. I won't let that happen again."

Sakura sinks into her arms like a cat on a heated bed. Her words are a sleepy mumble, the tension she'd been harboring over their friendship disappearing and leaving her achingly tired. "You shouldn't be insecure, you know. You really are beautiful."

Hmm…

Ino carefully does not react to this statement.

She is well aware that the topic of her appearance hadn't been brought up. Part of her chalks it up to the fact that she'd been making a lot of comments about it recently, and the rest of her doesn't let her get away with making convenient excuses.

That part triumphantly reasserts itself when Sakura gives her the small tissue wrapped gift, when Ino finds the incredibly beautiful, incredibly _expensive_ hair comb she'd been admiring inside, and when Sakura looks at her as if any word out of Ino's mouth might make or break her.

And Ino knows it's a bad idea. She does. But it's a fabulously thoughtful gift, and in all honesty, Sakura or not, it's the most heartfelt thing anyone has ever given her.

"Thank you," she says sincerely and kisses her on the cheek. "I know you feel like you need me to be strong, Sakura, but the truth is that you're strong all on your own, and you should be proud. Even if you need to use me as an excuse, I hope you'll learn to acknowledge that someday."

She does not miss the fact that Sakura is still smiling even in her sleep.

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	17. A Cold Wind Blows

**A/N** : I'm late! Sorry! But here it is, and we're back to the main story line. You'll notice quite a few deviations as this fic heads to its close (5 or 6 more chapters left!), but hopefully they all make sense. Thanks to everyone as usual, and happy reading!

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Chapter 16

"A Cold Wind Blows"

...

It's been over a month since her mission with Ino. Sakura has seen her intermittently since then, usually for leisure or training rather than business – they haven't been teamed up again since Yunosato. Between their respective missions, they find time to train in ninjutsu, begging lessons from Kakashi, and before Sakura knows it, Naruto is home.

With Tsunade.

Sakura is overjoyed at his success. The only person who can possibly teach her the two things she wants to learn is here in the village – what she hadn't known, however, is that Naruto brought the sannin back to become the fifth Hokage. She finds this out when she's called into her office and sees Tsunade, absent of the typical kage garb, but in the Third's seat. Sakura makes the logical conclusion.

To her surprise, Shikamaru walks through the door not ten seconds later. To her even greater surprise, she learns they're both there to be promoted.

She is far less excited to hear this than she'd been to learn about Tsunade's return.

The Godaime speaks in a rather bored tone, not like the one the Sandaime used to address his subordinates during serious matters. ...And is that a bottle of sake on the corner of her desk…? Sakura has heard that Tsunade is a legendary gambler and drinker besides a legendary healer, but she wouldn't have put much stock into the rumors considering the woman has ascended to the most powerful position in the entirety of Fire Country. And yet, here she is with a cup of sake by her hand and her robe emblazoned with the word "Gamble," just like the stories say.

"Nara Shikamaru," she drawls, her eyes scanning the papers on her desk. "For your quick thinking during the final matches, your willingness to retreat when outmatched, and for your tactical strategy and success at defending the support and retrieval team sent during the invasion at the chunin exams, I hereby endow you with a promotion in rank. The responsibilities of your new status are…"

She lists them off. It's a well-rehearsed speech that lasts a minute longer. Sakura wonders if she'll have to repeat the exact same thing when addressing her, and indeed, she does.

"Haruno Sakura, for your performance during the final chunin exam, your understanding of your limitations and willingness to retreat when outmatched, your decision to assist your fellow shinobi at the stadium during the invasion, and," Tsunade pauses here, apparently surprised by the long list of accomplishments, or perhaps for the oddness of this one in particular, "and for your integral role in stopping the _jinchuruuki of Shukaku of the Sand_ …?"

The Godaime stops reading. She grumbles something that suspiciously sounds like, "what the fucking hell," and quickly downs the glass of sake on her desk. She clears her throat and continues.

"I hereby endow you with a promotion in rank. The responsibilities of your new status are –"

"I decline," Sakura interrupts her. She's surprised by how easy it is to say the words. Perhaps it's because she hasn't developed the respect usually reserved for hokages yet, considering the newness of Tsunade's instillation, or perhaps it's her own improved confidence and her assuredness in her decision. Probably all three.

Shikamaru and Tsunade both snap their heads up to look at her. It helps, she thinks, that Shikamaru looks just as reluctant to accept his position, although he'd done it, at least. She has no plans to follow suit.

The Godaime's hand flexes marginally against the papers clutched there. It's enough force to push her fingernails through the thick stack. Sakura tries not to be intimidated.

"What?"

"With – with all due respect," Sakura struggles to keep a grip on her conviction, "I don't want to be a chunin."

"You don't _want_ to?" Tsunade repeats, obviously baffled. And indignant. "What the hell do you mean you don't _want_ to be promoted?"

Sakura mentally adds cursing to the list of this woman's unprofessional characteristics.

( _Well, I like her!_ )

 _I didn't say I didn't like her, but…_

Sakura takes a deep breath. "Hokage-sama, if I accept my promotion, is it correct that cooperative missions with shinobi and kunoichi of genin-rank will be rare except when issued as a platoon leader?"

"That's right," Tsunade agrees wearily.

Shikamaru catches on immediately. "Sakura, Ino would hardly want you to reject a promotion because of something like that. You know she's going to be angry when she finds out."

"I – I understand that," Sakura continues, flustered now, "but if Shikamaru accepts his rank, then his team will be without a third person for the next chunin exams. I would be unavailable to fill that space if I were promoted, so…"

"Shizune!" The Godaime barks, slamming her fist against the desk.

A rather harried looking woman immediately marches into the room. She lowers herself into a brief bow. To Sakura's bewilderment, there is a small pig trailing behind her. A small pig dressed in a pearl necklace and a shirt…

The Hokage's office sure will be different now.

"Where's that extra bottle you hid from me?"

"Ah, Tsunade-sama, it's only been a few hours since you started the paperwork, do you really think that –"

Tsunade's eyes narrow. Shizune sighs resignedly and goes to fetch the alcohol, returning shortly and placing it wordlessly on the Hokage's desk, though not without a disapproving look.

The Godaime pours herself a glass and turns back to Sakura. "Now then," she says, exponentially more calm. "What ridiculous thing were you saying?"

"Um, I was saying that I decline the promotion –"

"No."

Sakura blinks. "No?"

"No. Do you want me to say it again? The answer. Is. No."

( _Told you this was a bad idea._ )

Tsunade folds her hands in front of her face, obscuring all but her unmerciful gaze. Sakura finds it much easier to look at her own feet as she speaks.

"But – but it's not fair. Ino helped with that mission – Shikamaru couldn't have done it without her. And besides, Lee won the match. Shouldn't they get promotions too?"

"Only those who made it to the finals are eligible for promotion. And Lee's is a special case," Tsunade admits with surprising patience, perhaps attributing Sakura's refusal to her loyalty to her friends. "I advised a promotion based on his performance, as well as Gai's suggestion, but the council is as hesitant as ever to allow shinobi without proficient skill in ninjutsu to advance in the ranks. I imagine with some secondary testing and a little time he'll get his promotion as well. Gai dealt with the same restrictions."

"But –"

Tsunade's eyes narrow. Her response is immediate. "I hate repeating myself. The answer is no."

"I won't do it," Sakura mumbles, and the desk shakes again when Tsunade's hand comes down on it in a furious blow, nearly sending the cup of sake tumbling over the edge.

"What is with the brats here? First that Konohamaru child, not to mention Naruto, and now you. This village…" she sighs. Her eyes close briefly. When they open again, they're no more yielding than before. "Are you loyal to this village, Sakura?"

"Of – of course I am."

"Do you understand the vulnerability of our military, of our security, of the safety of all your shinobi and civilian friends and family?"

"I –"

"Our strength has been cut nearly in half," Tsunade interrupts her impatiently. "The number of chunin and jounin left to accept B-rank and higher missions has deteriorated significantly. Do you know how many chunin have pushed themselves to exhaustion to try and fill that gap? Do you know how many have died doing so since the invasion?"

"No," Sakura whispers, her blood chilling. "I don't."

Tsunade at last drops her hands. She leans back into her chair. "A lot. Too many. We need all the people we can get to prevent more. Do you want to deny your village that much needed assistance for the sake of your personal quandaries?"

"Well, I –"

"Do you want," Tsunade interjects again, "to send more people to their deaths, while they are unwilling or unable to spend the appropriate amount of time recovering between missions, because _you_ feel _entitled_ to deny your promotion?"

The words are like a stab to the chest. Sakura honestly hadn't considered that. Tsunade's choice of words is especially cutting. 'Entitled,' as in special, as in exempt from hardship… not Sakura. Decidedly not Sakura.

"No, Hokage-sama. I apologize for my oversight."

"Good. Now that that's sorted, you're both dismissed –"

"But," she continues, ignoring Shikamaru's frustrated sigh. Tsunade looks like she's about to just pick up her desk and throw it at her, but Sakura swallows her fear. She hadn't lied when she'd said that her loyalties lay with the village; it's just that, they lay with the village only because patriotism had been beaten into her since she functionally enlisted in their military at the age of five-years-old, and for no meaningful reason other than that. Except now, she can say that it's true because Ino resides here, and so at the core of the matter, her loyalties lay with Ino. And if she has to get promoted, then she can at least use it to her benefit.

She has not forgotten Ino's hallucinations in the hospital, the heartbreaking helplessness, or Gai's words.

"I would like to… make an exchange."

Tsunade balks at her. "You want to barter your responsibilities to this village that you're required to accept?"

"Y-yes, Hokage-sama…"

"Just to be clear, you've spent the last ten minutes trying to argue your way out of your duties, _thoroughly_ aggravating me, and now you want something from me. Is that right?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama…"

Tsunade is so astonished that she doesn't even reflexively reach for her alcohol. It takes her a minute to absorb this information, the absurdity of this situation, the plain _disrespect_ this young, spoiled child is thoughtlessly delivering in a show of utter disregard for her fellow shinobi, for her Hokage, for her _village_ …

She's pissed.

"Shikamaru," she snaps. "You're dismissed."

He leaves faster than Sakura knew he was capable of moving. Now alone, the situation feels ten times more unnerving. She tries not to let it show.

"You," Tsunade says flatly, "are the most pretentious, obnoxious child I've met here yet. What exactly could you want from me? What do you expect me, your Hokage, to _give_ you in exchange for your _mandatory_ cooperation?"

"I would like to request your tutelage, Hokage-sama."

"My what."

"Your – your, um," Sakura stutters, "your expertise in the medical field, as well as in chakra-enhanced strength, I, um…"

She continues to ramble for quite some time, stuttering all the way, until Tsunade finally starts to chuckle, and then laugh outright, her hand going to rub her temples in an attempt to soothe the headache induced by this girl's ridiculousness.

There just comes a point when someone pushes preposterousness so hard that it somehow slides past irritating and into the realm of humor. Sakura's presumptuousness is off the charts and totally unexpected. From her demeanor and the data in her files, Tsunade honestly had not expected this one to give her so much trouble, though admittedly, there's quite a bit of incomplete data regarding her performance during the exams and the invasion, as there is for most everyone.

Much of the information in recent reports has been porous and convoluted. The invasion hadn't only put a dent in their personnel; it also subsequently delayed a lot of the paperwork. Most of the reports are still coming in and have to be put together from a variety of sources. It's unsurprising that her file is clearly missing some information. She would hardly describe this girl as "meek."

Impatient to solve this mystery, Tsunade cuts her off mid-sentence.

"What makes you think I'd have time for something like that?"

Sakura startles and changes the direction of her thoughts immediately. "I understand that you'll be overseeing the hospital. I thought maybe I could intern there, or if you just gave me some lessons – I could even train under your apprentice, if –"

Tsunade waves her hand dismissively. "Shizune will be even busier than I am." She does not say that's because she plans to have the poor woman do half her paperwork. "And neither skill you're trying to learn can be simply picked up by a few short lessons. Both require full-time dedication and training so rigorous that I doubt you've experienced anything half as exhausting. Would you be willing to endure something like that?"

Sakura thinks about Gai's ridiculously unforgiving training methods and blanches at the thought of anything that could be harder than that. But, still, she has too many reasons to try and no reasons not to. If it's a matter of endurance, Sakura has few doubts about her abilities.

"I would, Hokage-sama."

"I wonder about that." Tsunade's inflection has shifted from incredulous to amused. Sakura isn't sure if it's a good thing or not. "I'll tell you what. Let's make it a bet."

"A – a bet?"

"That's right. If you can beat me at arm wrestling, I'll tutor you in both medical ninjutsu _and_ chakra-enhancement. If I win, however," her tone turns cold, "then I expect you to accept your promotion without argument and without my tutelage. I won't do it any other way. Do you accept?"

Does she? What had Gai said about crumbling mountains with the flick of her finger…?

 _There's no way… do you think you can win?_

( _Probably not_ ), her other half admits, ( _but what choice do we have but to try?_ )

Sakura tries to steel herself.

"I accept, but it won't be me doing the arm wrestling, exactly… it'll be the... the other me."

Tsunade's brow furrows. Her file had been comprehensive enough to list something about a mental disorder or other, which she'd thought had been odd, considering this girl's recommended promotion. "The _other_ you?"

"Yes…"

It's probably easier to show than to tell, so Sakura switches places. Her inner self, now in control, punches her fists together enthusiastically, and Tsunade watches the change with calculating eyes. Everything about her is different now, from her posture to her facial expressions to her _chakra_ …

Something that's supposed to be immutable and inherent.

"Ready when you are!" Sakura approaches the desk, kneeling at the other side and propping her elbow on the table.

Intrigued and a little weary now, Tsunade grips her hand. "On my count," she warns. "Three, two, one –"

If Sakura has any chance of winning, she figures, it'll be by surprise. And, indeed, she uses her full strength to _push_ Tsunade's hand. It nearly hits the surface of the desk before Tsunade catches herself in her astonishment, the back of her fist an inch from loss.

Interesting.

Sakura strains against the resisting force of Tsunade's strength, but she can tell by the Godaime's completely unbothered expression, not an ounce of effort displayed on her face, that she's lost.

She keeps trying anyway.

Tsunade's hand moves minutely towards the desk. Sakura pushes. It moves again. She pushes harder, summoning every ounce of strength, every bit of knowledge and experience she's gained, funneling chakra into the muscles of her forearm, gritting her teeth and _straining_ –

And then, in an instant, Tsunade flips Sakura's hand against the table so quickly and with such force that the desk cracks in half. Sakura's whole body turns and crashes through the broken wood.

Just like that. Tsunade didn't even bat an eye.

 _Holy…_

( _…Crap_.)

It's not all a loss though. Sakura has gained at least one thing: the knowledge that the ceiling of the Hokage's office is beautiful.

"Ow…"

Tsunade yanks her upright by her arm without regard for her pain. A large splinter spears through the skin of Sakura's forearm like a gigantic piercing, and with her free hand, Tsunade removes it cleanly with one, smooth motion, and seals it shut just as quickly. Then she shoves Sakura out of the rubble.

Shizune stands by the door, having rushed in after the loud crash. She looks exhausted just by the sight.

"You lose," Tsunade deadpans. Sakura's heart sinks. "Your training starts on Saturday. Meet me at the hospital entrance at eight in the morning."

"I – my what?"

Didn't she just say…?

"I can't win bets, Sakura. It's bad for the country."

"Um…?"

"You're dismissed."

Shizune stares at her like she's grown two heads. Tsunade merely picks up the papers she'd dropped from the decimation at her feet and pretends that Sakura is already gone.

And Sakura, meanwhile, isn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Thank you, Hokage-sama!" She grins widely, heading for the door before Tsunade can change her mind. "I won't let you down, I promise!"

#

The next day, Friday, Sakura practically bounces through the village square. It's still early, about ten in the morning. The sun hasn't yet had time to scorch the air into unbearable heat. The temperature has been strangely high for the season; thankfully, the hospital always maintains a cool seventy degrees.

She catches sight of Ino walking away from the hospital doors, a bouquet of flowers in hand, but the irritated look on her face stops her from calling out. She'll have to ask later. Right now, she's here to see Sasuke.

After the whole debacle with Gaara, when Sakura at last found her footing amongst her team – however unstable – she made a point to think of her teammates whenever she had the time. She'd already seen Naruto after he dragged her to Ichiraku's late last night on his first evening home, but Sasuke, despite that he's been in the village while Naruto was absent, proves to be a trickier relationship.

In the first place, he still hasn't told her how he wound up in the hospital to begin with. Kakashi had been tight-lipped, too. The best she could get out of them was that it involved some kind of ambush, which hardly explained anything, but they refused to provide more information, and she isn't going to beg them for it.

Ever since his impromptu set of injuries, however, Sasuke has been even more cold and distant than usual. She'd thought that his admission – that he cared about her and Naruto – and their successful teamwork during the invasion would've worked to cement their tentative bonds, but that doesn't seem to be the case. She sees him once or twice a week and he hardly speaks to her the whole time.

It doesn't stop her from going, though. At first she'd tried to make conversation with him, but Sasuke has never been a chatty person. She gave up on that after the second visit.

Then it became books. That, she found, was something they could both handle. She's not really sure if it can be called companionship, but it at least _feels_ meaningful in some way, so she hopes the hours they spend in silence together count for something. At the very least, he's begun to acknowledge her when she comes in and when she goes, and a few times, they've even managed to strike up a conversation over their reading material.

It's not much. It's not like the relationship Ino has with her team, or that Sakura has with Ino's team, and certainly not like what Sakura has with Ino – but it's something. She cares about them. She accepts her teammate's oddities and insecurities and instabilities.

Except for right now. Right now, she's pissed.

She'd found Sasuke's room empty. A nurse pointed her upstairs to the roof, and she opened the door to the sound of a thousand chirping birds.

Chidori.

Naruto stands crouched and ready to leap, a swirling ball of chakra in his hand that, while she doesn't know the technique, she can see the intent and the form and knows it isn't something one should use on a friend. Neither is Chidori – but Sasuke is in a similar position, his elbow bent and poised to strike with a jutsu that can pierce through armor, let alone the soft flesh of another human.

 _They're not really going to…_

( _Hell yeah they are._ )

They leap.

There is no time to think.

Tiger. Hare. Boar. Dog. This is not a technique Sakura has mastered, but she hopes it'll be good enough. It has to be.

Her chakra surges forward, embedded with her will, and the concrete roof of the hospital splits like the peel of a citrus fruit. Earth and metal and conjured dirt screech upwards from the new fissure she's created. The wall thickens and expands, blocking Sasuke and Naruto from each other's strikes – and thank God for that, because whatever the hell they were thinking, she doubts it would've turned out in either of their favors, judging by the damage.

Naruto's hand grates against the barrier like a whirlpool, putting a dent into the structure the size of a small crater. Sasuke, meanwhile, stares in bewilderment at his arm embedded a full foot into the messy earth wall.

For a moment, none of them speak. Sakura marches forward. This time, in her adrenaline rush, she doesn't need Inner Sakura there to be pissed for her. She's angry and willing to show it all on her own.

"What were you thinking?" She demands, glancing back and forth between the two boys. "You could've killed each other!"

The animosity rolling off of Sasuke's body dampens somewhat. Naruto looks outright sheepish. Kakashi –

When did he get here?

"Yo," he greets, and then, "what she said."

Naruto stands and brushes off the crumbling dirt from his jumpsuit. "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan," he grumbles. "I wasn't thinking."

( _When do you_ _ **ever**_ _?!_ )

Sasuke does not look ready to apologize. He yanks his hand from Sakura's earth structure and turns as if to leave, but Kakashi is behind him in an instant, a hand gripping his shoulder in a way that is less of a plea and more of a command.

"Stay."

Sasuke does.

"I don't know what's going on here," Kakashi continues dryly, "but those techniques are not ones that should ever be turned on comrades. I didn't teach you the Chidori for you to abuse at your whim, Sasuke. Not to mention the fact that you're fighting in a hospital, which is breaking more rules than I have fingers."

"Sorry…" Naruto says again, his head hung.

Kakashi levels them all with a serious stare. His one eye somehow reflects the depth of his disappointment. The earth wall stands tall on the roof, embedded with pieces of hospital infrastructure – pipes and beams that Sakura had been forced to use in her haste, not quite quick enough or adept enough at the Earth-Style Wall to conjure that much dirt on her own. She hopes she hasn't done any irreparable damage.

"Sakura," he turns to her, and she straightens at his tone. "Thank you for stepping in. You performed that jutsu quite well."

Despite the situation, she manages a smile at the praise. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

He nods. "Now, I'd love to find out exactly what made you two decide to kill each other on this beautiful, sunny day, but I'm sure neither of you will tell me."

As if to prove his point, both Naruto and Sasuke petulantly cross their arms and turn away from each other.

"Right." Kakashi at last lets go of Sasuke's shoulder and steps back, standing at the far end of the roof to get a good look at all three of his students. "Well, apparently now isn't a good time, but I did come here to take all three of you out for a celebratory meal."

"Celebration?" Naruto repeats, perking up slightly. It must be nice, Sakura thinks, to have such an easily distracted, one track mind – and she doesn't even mean it in a cruel way. Really, it must be nice. "What are we celebrating?"

"You haven't noticed what Sakura is wearing?"

At that, the two boys finally take a good look at her, at last noticing the anomalous item of clothing: the green vest.

Naruto's jaw drops. "Woah! You got promoted, Sakura-chan?! That's awesome! Aw, man, why the heck didn't Oba-san promote _me_ too?!"

"We were all there fighting Gaara," Sasuke echoes the statement, the bitterness resonating in his tone. Sakura frowns at that.

It's not like she'd been expecting their praise. She would've keeled over if Sasuke had come up to her with a smile and a congratulatory pat on the back, sure enough, but it isn't like she hadn't worked for it, even if she'd tried to refuse it at first. Her Inner Self fought hard, and she herself had, too, struggling this whole time to achieve a comparable level to the shinobi around her without the advantages of a kekkai genkai or unfathomable levels of chakra. She'd done it by her own merits – with help, of course, but the pains she'd endured to stand here with them today, to survive this long, are not trivial.

Even so, it's odd to acknowledge her own hard work. It even makes her uncomfortable. But Inner Sakura is raging about the unwarranted jealousy, and if Ino were here, she'd no doubt jump in to defend her – urge her to defend herself, even.

Sakura remembers her words, _"even if you need to use me as an excuse, I hope you'll learn to acknowledge that someday."_

It doesn't come naturally at all, but she knows now that Ino values her as a person. And if someone as talented as Ino puts value in her, let alone Ino herself, then Sakura will defend that value, no matter how disconcerting it feels to do so.

Her self-respect might rely solely on Ino's opinion of her, but that just makes it matter more, if anything.

"I got promoted," she says slowly, but firmly, "because Tsunade-sama recognizes that I'm willing to make choices based on strategy rather than pride, and because I would never in my life do what either of you two just did."

Both boys go still as wooden dolls. Sakura's heart beats wildly in her chest – to say something like that out loud is possibly the most nerve-wracking thing she's ever done, maybe even more so than facing Shukaku of the Sand – but Kakashi looks at her, something strange glinting in his eye, something unfamiliar.

He looks proud.

Sasuke pivots on his heel and is gone in an instant. Naruto stares down at his feet, his fists clenched and his eyes hooded. She wonders if he's going to cry and feels bad for it, but then Kakashi puts a hand on his shoulder. His tone is soft.

"Why don't you two go to lunch, my treat? I'll make sure Sasuke's alright."

Naruto nods, numbly accepting the small wad of bills that Kakashi hands him, and then their sensei vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving the two of them behind.

She feels bad. She really, really does, even though she knows she shouldn't, but Sakura is not used to putting her foot down, and this type of painful emotion is not one she's used to having. She's never verbally hurt anyone in her life, and the fact that it's Naruto, her indomitably cheerful teammate, makes it that much worse.

She grabs Naruto's hand. He raises his head, his eyes slightly watery, and she smiles at him.

"Come on," she tugs him towards the stairwell. "You're not going to turn down free Ichiraku, are you?"

#

Why. Is. It. So. Damn. Hot.

There are few things – cosmetic things, anyway – that Ino hates more than being sweaty. It's really not the most convenient pet peeve to have, what with being a kunoichi and all, but it's not the fact of _being_ sweaty that bothers her, it's the _look_ of it. She walks home as quickly as possible in order to avoid being seen as much as she can prevent it. But, having been training for the past four hours, the perspiration is inevitable. The Liquid Bullet Jutsu is not an easy one to master; now, though, she wonders why she hadn't simply shot it into the air so she could soak herself in clean water rather than the salty liquid coating her like a second skin.

She's irritable already by the time she runs into Shikamaru and ropes him into coming over to her house. The walk is a short one through town, past the bustling market, the clamor of vendors and street hawkers and children. The smell of food makes her mouth water, but a shower takes priority.

"It's the pressure of the shot that's so annoying," she rants to him as they make their way to her home. "Forming the shape isn't that difficult, but I can't get the force to be as strong as it's supposed to be."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. You've been training a lot lately."

Ino sighs, slumping slightly. "I have to! Sakura's already managed to shoot _her_ Liquid Bullets through a tree. She's moved on to changing viscosities now, and with her chakra control, she'll probably master that one too by the time I'm halfway decent at it, and the other Sakura's already on earth walls, and – ugh. It's so annoying."

"I thought you were over this whole inadequacy thing," Shikamaru grumbles. He's not exactly enthusiastic about being caught in the middle of Ino's wrath.

They enter through the flower shop and wave a quick hello to Ino's mother before trudging up the stairs to the living area above. Ino's room takes up the entirety of the loft, which means an unfortunate second set of stairs that needs to be climbed. Her room is as one might expect: impeccably styled and color-coordinated with white walls and a wood floor, lilac and white bedspread, a vase of flowers sitting on the window sill. The drapes are pulled back, providing a nice view of the town and a sliver of sky dotted with clouds. Shikamaru flops on the bed sideways so he can watch their wondrous, tranquil passing…

"It's not that simple," Ino finally says after much thought.

"What do you mean?"

The shower comes on. She leaves the door open so he can hear her reply. Neither Ino nor her parents worry about her and Shikamaru being alone in her room – they've known each other far too long for such things to be taken into consideration. This ritual in particular, the post training shower rant, has been happening for a long time. He's gotten roped into it for years and doesn't bother trying to resist anymore. Before Sakura, Ino usually directed complaints at him, or Choji, or Asuma, so in a way, he supposes he should be thankful to Sakura. Now he doesn't have to endure the accusations.

"Do you know what happened this morning?"

He grunts a no and then realizes she probably hadn't heard him. "No. What?"

"I went to take flowers to Sasuke-kun. He's going to get out of the hospital today, I think, but I wanted to bring him a bouquet because I haven't since Sakura and I got back from that mission."

"Wasn't that over a month ago?"

There's a pause before she answers. She's probably washing the shampoo out of her hair.

You know you're close to someone, he thinks wryly, when you can accurately pinpoint her shower routine.

"That's exactly what I mean! I didn't see Sasuke-kun for over _a month_. I hardly even thought about him. I've been too busy training, or hanging out with Sakura – you should see that girl's wardrobe, it's seriously improved, though her cooking is still pretty hit or miss – and then, on the way to the hospital this morning, I stopped right at the door and asked myself, 'what's the point?'"

Shikamaru tries to sympathize. For, like, a second. "What _is_ the point?"

"It's _Sasuke-kun!_ " Ino sounds distinctly frustrated. And loud. "I've been trying to get that guy to notice me starting from our third year at the Academy, and since then, I don't think a day's gone by that I haven't attempted to do just that. Until I started hanging out with Sakura."

"Okay, so… What's the problem?"

"It's like I don't even know who I am anymore, Shikamaru. I thought I liked Sasuke-kun, but I hardly ever think about him anymore. I thought I was empathetic, but then I let Sakura get bullied all throughout school, and I thought I was strong, but Sakura's kicking my ass at basically everything, and now she looks up to me like I'm this deity goddess or something…"

The shower shuts off. Shikamaru turns slightly to face away from her as she comes out of the bathroom to dress.

"Aren't you?"

"Well, duh." He can practically hear the eye roll. "Only, apparently not. How can I accept that when she's beating me at everything we learn together? I mean – what are you wearing?"

Her tone is blunt. She knows exactly what he's wearing, and see, this is just another thing to add to the list, because when does Ino _ever_ overlook other people's clothes? She should've noticed the change in his outfit immediately.

"I got promoted today." He sighs as if it's just another chore, and then, thinking for a moment, he adds, "So did Sakura."

There is a clanking sound as something is dropped. "What! I – you – see?! This is exactly what I mean! I didn't even make it past the preliminaries and… ugh." She inhales audibly, calming herself down. "Congratulations," she says sincerely. "You deserve it."

"I'm not sure about that."

"You do. Nobody's better at strategy than you, and Sakura deserves it too, which makes what I'm saying all the more obvious."

Her words taper off into a forlorn mumble. Shikamaru, hearing the beginnings of a long hair-brushing ritual begin, turns over on the bed to face her. This situation is troublesome for a few reasons, not the least of which is that he's been dragged into it, but also because Ino is right. He's never seen her doubt herself like she is right now. Normally, she'd be taking such things in stride, citing her own talents and skill as equalizers, but instead she's… unsure. Self-critical. Not confident.

Not _Ino_.

It's too weird.

As much as he'd like to lie here silently and stare out the window, speaking now will save him the trouble of trying to help her when the situation has only worsened later.

"I think you have two options here," he begins after another minute of thought. "The first one is to accept that you're not everything you thought you were," he gives her a look to silence her complaints before they begin, and she closes her mouth to hear him out. "But then you wouldn't really be _you_."

"So, then, what's the other option?"

"Live up to it," he shrugs. "Find a way to make yourself feel like you deserve that admiration again."

Ino ticks off another ten strokes of the hairbrush. Only eighty more to go. "That's easier said than done, you know. With Sakura's chakra control, she masters things fifty-percent faster than I do. It's impossible."

"Then learn something else."

"Like what?"

"Like your clan techniques," Shikamaru explains patiently. "That's something that only you can do, and something only you can master. I think you're focusing too much on beating her at things she's already good at rather than using your effort to improve your own set of skills. It makes more sense to do that, since it's less about winning than feeling like you deserve her admiration. And that way, you can keep being you," he adds, cementing the point.

Ah, Shikamaru. So wise. So annoying.

So annoyingly wise.

He's right. As soon as it's out of his mouth, she knows he's right. Ino finishes her hundred strokes and puts the brush back on her vanity. It's been a while since she's worked on her family's techniques. In all honesty, she's been so full of doubts recently that she's been too worried about losing her sense of self to even practice her already mastered Mind Transfer technique. And perhaps that's been part of her mistake, she realizes. Her father has always said, after all, that she has an innate talent for mental techniques, but she'd been so caught up in helping Sakura train at first, and then with competing with her, that she'd hardly invested any energy in that area of her skills.

If she asks her dad for help, there are dozens of new things she can learn. That _only_ she can learn.

"I have been meaning to ask my dad about that Mind Body Disturbance technique he uses… And Sensing Transmission would be useful…"

Shikamaru represses a shudder. Having Ino be able to read thoughts and project her own into others' minds sounds… troublesome. And then some. But he's not about to say so, lest he incur her wrath. Other than that, however, it is nice to see Ino's face slowly relax from its disconcerted expression, and then he _knows_ she's going to be okay when she flips her hair in her signature 'I love myself and you should too' move.

"I guess you're right, Shikamaru. I've been approaching this the wrong way, and I really am that awesome." He hadn't said that, which is another thing he won't mention. "I just have to remember it."

Good. That's settled then. Shikamaru turns back to the clouds as Ino applies her makeup. The small sliver of sky isn't nearly what he'd like to watch their movements from, preferring the open, unobstructed view of a rooftop or a hill, but the thought of actually getting off of Ino's comfortable bed and walking that far makes him tired. Well, everything makes him tired, but still.

There's something else, too, annoyingly enough.

His eyes drift over to Ino, who is skillfully brushing mascara onto her eyelashes. She smiles at her reflection in the large, wood-framed mirror, before placing the tube of makeup back onto the perfectly organized vanity. She looks pleased as ever. As if the whole situation never happened, really, as if it hadn't ruined her self-concept for the past month or so in a way that he'd thought her immune, sending her spiraling into pits of emotional disturbance that he believed were inconceivable for his headstrong teammate…

As if Yamanaka Ino, the girl who could argue a brick wall into believing she's an earthbound goddess, hadn't just completely lost sight of herself.

Should he say something? Shikamaru thinks about it strategically in terms of effort, versus future effort, versus opportunity cost. Not saying anything would be easier, surely, but this is another one of those things that Ino seems to be uncharacteristically unaware of, which, for a person that needs to be one-hundred percent sure of herself at all times, he supposes makes sense. Change is disrupting to self-image. It's logical that she'd be naturally and subconsciously resistant to it.

So, in that case, if he doesn't say anything about it, it'll get worse, and then he'll have to spend twice as long helping her sort it out later.

Damn. Sometimes he hates his brain.

"You know, Ino," he drawls, trying to sound as indifferent as possible to skirt around her short temper, "you've been awfully worked up about this."

She snorts, kind of like a pig – more things he won't say. "Of course I have been. I've never questioned myself like that before."

"That's kind of what I mean. You're really emotionally invested in this. In fact, I've never seen you so mentally torn up about anything."

Now, to his regret, she turns around on her stool, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Her makeup is flawless as usual, but somehow, she's still going to take another twenty minutes to finish applying it, bafflingly enough.

"What are you trying to say?"

Her voice holds a warning. Damn. Double damn. He really hates his brain.

"I'm just saying that, you're suddenly disinterested in Sasuke, and if you're this worked up about all of this stuff with Sakura, you must really care about her…"

Shikamaru trails off and hopes she can fill in the blanks without him having to say it outright. Which she does.

And then she throws her hairbrush at his head.

"Shikamaru!"

"Ow! I – what?"

"Are you implying," she seethes, "that I might be developing _feelings_ for _Sakura_?"

"I'm actually saying that I think you already have – ow! Ino, quit it!"

The offending tube of mascara struck him hard on the forehead.

Ino does not look sorry. "That's ridiculous."

"What makes it so impossible?"

"Because!" She gestures emphatically. "I've liked Sasuke-kun since I was six, and I've never even _looked_ at a girl that way before."

"So?"

"So?! What do you mean, 'so'?!"

"So," he repeats irately, "you'd never liked Sasuke either, until you started liking him. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that – of course there's a – I mean, how in the world would –" Ino stops abruptly as if someone literally dammed the words in her throat. Then she stands, her face perfectly blank, her posture rigid, and she announces tonelessly, "I need ice cream."

Then she leaves him in her room.

Has Shikamaru mentioned recently that he hates his brain?

"I should've kept my mouth shut…"

#

Ichiraku is mercifully empty. They missed the lunch rush by about fifteen minutes, leaving Sakura and Naruto to enjoy their meals in peace. It's delicious, as usual. Ichiraku's ramen really is the best in town. The broth is always flavorful and perfectly salted, the meat cooked just right, and the noodles are the perfect balance of firm and chewy. It's not Sakura's favorite food, but she enjoys it nonetheless, though not nearly as much as Naruto.

Usually, at least. The sullen boy is eating his ramen at half-speed today in his bad mood, which is still twice as fast as her, but still, it's noticeably slower. He's downright dejected. Her guilt doubles at the sight. She wants to apologize for her outburst earlier, for making him feel this terrible, but she clings to her conviction and resists the urge. She'd already passed up the opportunity the dozen or so times he'd apologized on the way here. Besides, that's apparently not what's bothering him the most, anyway.

He shoves his sixth bowl of food away from him, at last taking a moment to breathe. His expression is solemn.

"Something's wrong with Sasuke."

"I've noticed," she sighs.

"What do you think it could be?"

Sakura, having long ago finished her meal, pushes her empty bowl onto the far edge of the counter. It's not hard for her to guess, considering what he'd said to Kakashi during their introductions. And while facing Gaara.

"I think he feels… like he's fallen behind. Like he isn't strong enough."

Naruto grimaces. "I think you're right. Something… happened recently. It really got to him."

"Whatever put him in the hospital?"

"Yeah," Naruto nods but doesn't explain further. Instead, he picks up his bowl of ramen and slurps it down in ten seconds flat, slamming the porcelain onto the table. "That guy…"

"He needs our help," Sakura says gently. She knows this because she's seen the loneliness on his face, the slight increase in liveliness when she'd entered the hospital room to visit him, the carefully disguised disappointment when she'd left. But she doesn't need to explain that to Naruto. He knows as well as either of them what it's like.

"I don't know what we can do." Naruto runs a hand through his hair and nearly slams it down on the table. He stops himself short, just barely. "I have a really bad feeling, but… I don't know. I just – I don't know. Do we go to Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm sure he knows already."

"Yeah…"

The thoughtful silence builds and then settles comfortably between them. Naruto looks more pensive than she's ever seen him. It's not that she's not worried about Sasuke too, but she doesn't quite have the same tenacious convictions about all of her friendships the same way Naruto does. He's stubbornly bonded to every person that's ever been kind to him. Sakura, on the other hand, isn't nearly as willing to make herself so vulnerable to so many people. Perhaps it's because she doesn't feel she has enough to give to be able to offer herself so freely.

And they're just different that way, Sakura thinks idly. Naruto directs his pain outward, reshaping it into a rebellious façade of confidence and strength so unbreakable that he'd become it. She'd pushed it all inward.

And Sasuke… Sasuke wears it. He breathes it.

 _It_ became _him._

"I think," Sakura says at least, startling Naruto into attention, "that we'll just have to be patient and see. Sasuke won't come to us for help. He'd never admit that he needs it, and certainly not from us. As strange as it might sound, we'll probably have to wait until he puts himself in a position where he has no choice but to accept help from us."

"You mean we're going to have to force him to."

"Yes," she agrees seriously. "I do. But we can't do much until that time."

Naruto's jaw clenches resolutely. "When it comes, we'll be ready."

And it does come. Sooner than they thought.

The very next day, in fact.

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	18. Strike Two for Sasuke

**A/N** : Aaannnd here we go! The (start of the) climax of all the changes I've wrought on the world of _Naruto_. Let's see how they pan out, shall we? :) Happy reading, and thanks to everyone as usual!

* * *

Chapter 17

"Strike Two for Sasuke"

...

Just as Tsunade said in her office, there aren't enough chunin and jounin left in the village to assemble the appropriate manpower for a mission like this. It's more than regrettable. It's even more than troublesome. It's downright suicidal.

Shikamaru had been called into the Hokage's office at an ungodly hour in the morning, before the sun had even risen, to receive the news that Sasuke had gone missing. No, Shikamaru thinks ruefully, that's not quite right. He'd been coerced into leaving the village by Orochimaru and his subordinates. The gatekeepers were on their way back from an errand when they spotted the group of sound-nin.

He might've argued harder about the relative costs and risks that Tsunade is apparently willing to take to bring him back, but he doesn't – and not just because he's being lazy about it. Sasuke is the last known survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre, barring Itachi, which means that besides his rogue-nin brother and Kakashi's left eye, he's the last person on earth with the sharingan.

So it follows, then, that this isn't so much a mission to retrieve Sasuke as it is to keep the sharingan out of Orochimaru's control. The Hokage would not put so many young lives at stake for anything less. The fact that this impossibly important mission has fallen into his hands is a matter of unfortunate circumstances and bad timing, but he can't argue that this is the only option. They must, for the sake of the village – for the sake of a lot more than that, really – succeed.

The choices he makes now will echo far and wide. Shikamaru takes a deep breath and thinks.

And comes up short. There are too many unknown factors to account for, too many possibilities, too big of a difference in power. He stares down at the roster of available shinobi and doesn't even have enough information to begin formulating a team beyond the obvious need for tracking and basic offensive power. The set of skills they'll require are varied, and the enemy's abilities are unaccounted for.

In a situation like this, with no experience leading a platoon, with no reasonable conclusions to make other than that they're running out of time, he needs a second head.

Sakura is honored and worried that he came to her.

It is in part, as he says, because Tsunade recommended (read: required) her for the mission, being one of the few present and uninjured chunin in the village besides himself. He agreed fully with her conclusion. Sakura's wide set of skills are versatile enough to be useful in nearly any situation, and her analytical mind, as evidenced by her promotion, will be equally as helpful.

Sakura is ashamed to say that the first things that come to that supposedly analytical mind are all the reasons why she isn't suited for this mission, why she's terrified to go, but then a second later, she ferociously beats those thoughts into putty. Her fear is not a reason to wimp out and never has been. She has to defend Ino's expectations of her. She has no right to let anyone down. She won't.

Every instinct in her screams to back out, and she's proud to find herself screaming right back.

( _Hell yeah! And besides, I want to kick Sasuke's ass._ )

Sakura fully endorses her other half's violence. Sasuke has, yet again, selfishly put lives at risk for his own gain. For something as meaningless and petty as _pride_. He could've asked for help and hadn't.

"We should take Naruto," is the first thing she says, much to Shikamaru's surprise.

"Naruto? Why him?"

"Trust me. If anyone will be able to beat some sense into Sasuke, it's him. And to be honest, he and I actually managed to make some progress with Sasuke, as a team. I think it'll be more convincing if Naruto and I approach him together."

"That makes sense," Shikamaru agrees after a moment's thought. "Neji and Kiba are a must for sensory and tracking."

"Right. Then, we need more fighting power."

"In this case, I'm not so sure," Shikamaru sighs wearily, pushes his knuckles into his temples. He's only been awake for a little over an hour. The day already feels too long. "I'm worried we won't be able to move fast enough with more people than that."

Sakura considers it. It's true, a larger team might not be able to move or act as quickly, and this situation does call for speed and efficiency as much as it calls for the strength required to complete it. But they come to the conclusion at the same time.

At the end of the day, speed won't matter if they can't get passed the enemy. The mission is a failure if they die.

"Numbers," Shikamaru says simply.

Sakura nods. "Yes. If there are four enemy nin, presumably chunin or jonin level, we need more than that to even have a chance at getting to Sasuke without dying."

They both understand the implications. The enemy team's goal is to get Sasuke to a location; if Shikamaru and the rest of their team start to catch up, the enemy squad will divert them by leaving shinobi behind. Which means they'll have to as well.

There's no telling if the numbers advantage will be able to cover the gap in skill, but it's their best shot. Better, certainly, than trying alone, although it's unlikely they'll be able to drop two members each time, since she and Naruto will still have to get to Sasuke… _But_ , Shikamaru runs through a predictive model in his head, _with two squad leaders, it might work._

"We'll take Lee," Sakura suggests. "Is Hinata in the village?"

"No, she and Shino are both on missions. Tenten is out restocking weaponry."

"Okay, so then –"

"Chouji and Ino," Shikamaru finishes the thought. "Get Naruto, Lee, and Kiba. I'll get the rest and meet you at the gates in twenty minutes."

#

Get the people. Get supplies. Scrolls, kunai, shurikan, soldier pills, bandages – Sakura scrambles to gather everything together. She hardly has time to explain the situation to each person, cutting it down to a simple, "We have a mission. A rank. Get ready."

When she meets Shikamaru at the gate, they both stand at the head of the group, facing their rather hilariously ragtag platoon, all of whom are yawning tiredly in the early morning light and kicking idly at the dirt. It's not ideal, but when is anything?

Shikamaru explains the situation curtly. At some of the group's rather agitated arguing, he reminds them with little regard to Sasuke's humanity that this is more about keeping the sharingan out of Orochimaru's hands than actually rescuing the guy, though that's important too, he amends at Naruto's indignant look.

"Okay, listen up," he orders once the briefing is finished. "With us as the pursuers, the enemy will have the offensive advantage. We'll likely run into traps, and as we catch up to them, there's a high possibility they'll begin leaving people on their team behind to delay us. In that case, we'll have to do the same, diverting their diversions. As often as possible, this will be done in two man teams to prevent any unnecessary deaths. However, there is a chance, depending on the situation, that some of us might have to fight alone."

There are a few indistinct murmurs at that. For a moment, Sakura has the absurd feeling that she's sitting at a school assembly, listening to the Academy Head rattle off new rules and punishments amongst a group of fidgety kids.

"We'll be moving in four man squads," Shikamaru continues. "Partners will be chosen depending on the abilities of the enemy. My team will lead: Kiba, Neji, Ino, you're with me."

The three step forward, separating themselves from the group to stand by his side.

"The rest of you are with Sakura. I realize," Shikamaru says seriously, "that we all, more or less, graduated with each other or are otherwise close in age, but this mission will function on a chain of command. All of you are to listen to Sakura and my orders, or else our teamwork will break down and we will _all_ die. Is that understood?"

The restless shuffling stops. There is a round of affirmative answers.

"Good. During the pursuit, Sakura and Naruto are our last resorts to leave behind – these two are the most likely to be able to convince Sasuke to return, or else force him. My team will move in single file as ordered: Kiba, to track; myself, to have the best vantage to give orders; Ino, for offensive ninjutsu; and Neji at the back, to keep eyes behind us. Sakura, I trust you can assign your team's formation. If everyone is clear on what's happening, we'll move out immediately."

A brief silence, and then another round of affirmative answers. As promised, Shikamaru's team takes the front and prepares to leap into the forest in single file.

On the bright side, Sakura concedes, at least she's familiar with every member of her assigned squad. The three others watch her expectantly, waiting for her orders. It's an odd feeling. Part of her wants to give up the responsibility - surely someone else would be a better leader... Sensing the thought, Inner Sakura pipes up.

( _Naruto is too brash, Choji is too insecure, and Lee doesn't have the heart to leave anyone behind. You know that._ )

Sakura does. It still doesn't make her feel any more worthy of the position. She takes a deep, steadying breath, briefly wonders why nobody has prepared her for this responsibility before assigning it to her (again), and then decides that it doesn't matter. She's in charge of these people's lives. If they die, it's on her head. That's what counts.

"We're primarily a combat team," she faces them, surprised by the steadiness in her own voice. "If Shikamaru's squad is assaulted, we'll be unable to continue tracking Sasuke, so it'll be our job to cover them in case of an ambush. Naruto, Chouji, I want you to the right of Shikamaru's squad, Naruto in the front, Chouji in the back. Keep no more than twenty yards from the center of the line at any time. Lee and I will be on the left with me in the lead. Keep your eyes open."

Naruto raises his hand. Like a school kid. "Why would we run with them closed?"

"It's an expression…"

"Sakura," Shikamaru calls over his shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Yes. At your order."

He raises his hand, and then they're off.

#

Traps.

Traps on traps on traps.

Explosive tag traps, perimeter traps, double wire traps – all of which they very nearly set off. It's the unfortunate disadvantage of traveling with a large group. That being said, when they finally encounter the enemy, none of them regret their numbers. There's a quick change in strategy after finding the group of sound-nin at rest. They decide on a diversionary trap to set off a Shadow Possession Jutsu, but none of them expected the enemy to be able to throw shurikan from a place where they clearly aren't standing.

How could anyone expect that, really…?

The Shadow Possession breaks in a mere moment. They're at a loss without back-up orders – their inexperience clearly shows.

Thankfully, at least, when the big guy – Jirobo, if she'd heard correctly – sets off his earth style barrier, that one is easily countered. Sakura leaps in front of Shikamaru's squad, her hands flying rapidly through seals.

"Doton: Earth-Style Wall!"

The two structures smash into each other. Her wall buckles slightly at the unexpected force behind the opposing jutsu – but it holds. Thankfully.

It's also enough to tell her that these guys are no joke. Not that she'd been expecting this to be easy, but the solemnity is doubly reasserted when she feels her chakra being gradually tugged from her through her earth wall and straight into the attempted barrier of the enemy-nin.

Crap.

And then the enemy squad splashes paper bombs like confetti, nearly blowing off all their heads. When the smoke clears, all but the big guy are gone.

Double crap.

Preparing for a physical confrontation, she switches places with her other half and is immediately glad to have done so. Naruto makes a move to race after the enemy team.

"Stay!" Inner Sakura barks immediately. This Sakura has no problem screaming demands. She meets Shikamaru's eyes, and she's glad they've spent so much time together playing Go. Their intent translates in the silent look.

Earth-style user. Relies on power rather than speed and agility. Now is the time to split up.

It's not like Jirobo is going to let them get away so easily, of course. They all watch, a little baffled, as he slams his palms into the ground, shoving chakra into the earth, molding and forming and yanking his hands up to show off the gigantic, house-sized ball of earth – how the hell is that possible, even…? If Sakura thought the skill difference was large before, she was wrong, because it's even bigger than that. Like an oversized trophy, he lifts it over his head and proceeds to throw it at them.

It's a geometry problem. Sakura is good at those.

She has exactly two seconds to make a decision. The first is used to calculate the spread of their group, who can get out of the way and who can't – Neji and Ino are standing directly in the center of the anticipated trajectory and, even with a huge leap, would still get throttled. Their angles of escape are too wide compared to the circumference of the projectile to be able to make it completely out of the way.

It's more than enough of a reason.

The other second she has, she uses to say three words: "Lee! Chouji! Assist!"

She dashes to Neji and Ino, who are darting out of the way – not quickly enough, as she anticipated, with the gigantic radius of the attack – and Sakura has not yet had her training with Tsunade. There is no way she can punch through something like that, but thankfully Chouji and Lee are people she's trained with, spent time with – her friends – and ones that read her intentions easily. As a group, Choji's arms enlarge to the fullest size, and with Lee's ridiculous strength, and Sakura's exponentially so, they proceed to lift their arms as if in praise to this wonderful offering.

And then they catch it.

Even Jirobo looks impressed.

Less so, however, when they throw it back at him. Dust and debris billow from the site of impact. It's more than likely he's dodged it, but the goal is accomplished: save lives, create a diversion.

"Choji, Lee, stay behind," she orders with a meaningful look. "He can absorb chakra through his earth structures, so be careful. Catch up when you can."

Shikamaru is already waving his team forward. "Back in formation, _now_!"

They leap away after the rest of the sound-nin, Sakura and Naruto following suit. She can hear Jirobo shouting some typical line about not letting them get away, but Lee's "youth" quickly stifles that in a round of immediate combat.

That guy might be strong, but she knows Choji and Lee are stronger.

For the sake of her mental health, she's determined not to question that.

( _They won't die_.)

 _No. They won't_.

"Naruto, take the right side now," Sakura calls over her shoulder.

Naruto gives her an odd look. "You sure are good at giving orders, Sakura-chan."

"What can I say?" Her eyes sparkle mischievously. "I could get used to being the boss."

He leaps off to take his place. Sakura refocuses on maintaining her speed. Stopping even for the short time it took to repel Jirobo's attack had given their enemies a significant head start, but not an irreparable one. There's certainly less distance between them than they'd started with, and it'll only be a matter of time now before they'll have to repeat their performance – losing one or two more members in the process.

Their squad is lightening. It's all part of the strategy, but it doesn't make her any less nervous.

 _It's not like you to worry_.

( _In this case, can you blame me?_ )

They bounce through the branches for only a few more minutes before Shikamaru holds up a hand.

"No more traps," he says simply. "They assumed that Jirobo would be enough for all of us."

"Their mistake," Kiba grins. He looks like he's itching for a fight – and he'll almost certainly get one. But not just yet.

Shikamaru nods. "They won't expect us. We need to use this to our advantage and take them by surprise."

"A henge?" Sakura guesses.

"No. They know each other too well – they'd figure it out immediately, and we can't divert them by force and risk having to fight all three of them at once. They're cocky, but if they see how many of us got passed Jirobo, they might start to change their minds and decide that taking us all out at once would be to their advantage."

Sakura can already guess where this is going. Inner Sakura falls back, allowing her other self to gain control.

"You want me to separate one with genjutsu, is that right?"

"Yes. Preferably whoever is carrying Sasuke. Can you do it without being noticed?"

Sakura can't help but find the statement funny. It seems like such a long time ago, but also not at all, when that'd been her only skill. She shrugs, smiling wryly. "That's my specialty."

"We'll follow your lead, then. Naruto, fall in line between me and Ino."

Not needing a second push, Sakura casts the illusion, cloaking herself, and speeds off through the trees. She uses Kiba's slight head nods as directions. When he begins to fall back, she knows she's close.

The sound-nin travel in a triangular formation with Tayuya the front, Sakon on the right, and Kidomaru _(six fucking arms, seriously?!_ ) slightly behind to the left. That's a lucky break. He's also the one carrying Sasuke.

Even luckier, none of them are speaking. The illusion of other's voices is harder to fake with so many different aspects – tone, accent, inflection, pitch. If they're silent, however, she's sure she can do this.

She hopes.

Sakura takes a moment to absorb the sights and smells and sounds. These trees are her home, and she knows them. She's run her fingers over their bark in an effort to make her illusions more accurate more times than she can count. That part is easy. Next, she memorizes the exact stride of Kidomaru's teammates, the sway of Tayuya's hair, the subtle tilt in Sakon's arms, and then she begins.

It's very slight. Slight enough, hopefully, that they won't notice. First, she recreates the sound of Kidomaru's footfalls in his teammate's ears. That way, when he separates, it'll take longer for them to notice – so long as they don't glance behind them. She doesn't plan on giving them a reason to.

The illusions she casts on Kidomaru is more complex. She pushes the genjutsu over his field of vision, manipulating the chakra in his central nervous system and hopefully convincing him that he's going straight when, in fact, he's leaning slightly to the right. It's a tricky process. She has to lead him down a different path without causing him to crash into anything, bend the angle of the world _just so_. His real teammates get further ahead while the illusory ones slow, forcing him to match their pace, though he won't notice. She recreates the burn in his thighs to make him believe he's really going that fast.

Now the turning. It's difficult. She moves the trees – the one's he's seeing, of course, not the real ones – slightly to the right. There's a branch in his way. He shifts to avoid it. Another one. Another shift.

She chances a glance behind her and sees Kiba only a short distance behind. Good. With half a mile now between Kidomaru and the other sound-nin, his imaginary teammates stop suddenly.

"What's wrong?" He asks. He glances behind him and sees nothing but forest.

Sakura hopes she can fake at least one word. The illusory Tayuya opens her mouth, and Sakura projects the gruff tone.

"Listen."

Kidomaru stills and does just that. He hears nothing but the sounds of the forest, of course, until Kiba is right up on them. Sakura slides neatly over to Kidomaru and, not wanting to break the illusion too soon by letting her Inner take over, thereby giving him a moment to react, she opts for slamming a kunai into his neck.

Even unable to see her, he senses the movement and turns his body. The blade slices into his shoulder, just below the collarbone. His cry of pain is unfortunately loud. His teammates will be back soon, and unsurprisingly – though not what she'd hoped for – he doesn't go down. Instead, he just looks pissed.

"Nice, Sakura!" Kiba races toward them, Akamaru at his side. He reaches them first and immediately launches an offensive. "Getsuga!"

Man and dog fly forward, barreling into Kidomaru who, in his surprise and confusion at the sudden disappearance of his teammates, only has a second to react. He manages to move partly out of the way, but there is a downside to having six arms.

That's four more to break.

The lowest one on his right side is caught in the spinning tornado. His wrist bone pops through his skin from the spiraling force of Kiba's technique, the elbow crooked at the wrong angle – not functional. Good.

Shikamaru is the next to reach them. His Shadow Possession holds Kidomaru in place while Naruto's clones come in, fists swinging, knocking him back into the tree behind him. Sakura, still cloaked, swoops in for the barrel. She yanks it off his back while Ino throttles him with Liquid Bullets.

Sakura extends her genjutsu cloak to cover the barrel containing Sasuke – ( _This is a hilarious way to travel,_ _honestly_ ), Inner Sakura shakes her head with dry amusement, ( _I'm going to make so much fun of him later for being carried around like a few gallons of whiskey_ ) – and awaits orders.

"Retreat!" Shikamaru shouts. Kidomaru is already getting up, but dazedly. They fall back in line and backtrack like hell is on their heels.

Which it is.

By now the sound-nin have more or less regrouped. They're just behind, and Sakura is doubtful her team will make it back to the village without being caught first, but now the roles are reversed. Now, being aggressive is to their advantage.

She leaps beside Neji and matches her footsteps to his. "Neji," she whispers – well, as much as traveling at high speeds will allow, anyway. He glances minutely in her direction to let her to know he's heard. "Those chakra strings that guy uses – can you cut them with your Gentle Fist?"

He nods. Perfect.

"Do you think you can take him out?" Another nod. "Fall back slightly and delay him. The others won't be willing to assist him at this point, not with Sasuke in our possession."

"Understood," he mumbles, slowing his pace.

Shikamaru, sensing the distance, glances over his shoulder. Thankfully, he puts things together without Sakura having to break the genjutsu to explain. He doesn't mention the break in rank.

"We're catching up!" The sound-nin shout to each other. When Neji whirls around, palms swinging to catch the injured Kidomaru in the stomach, they quickly change their tune. As expected, the other two members don't stop to help him.

They might really make it. If they keep dropping diversions, if the enemies are unable to catch her in her illusion, they might really, _really_ –

"Sakon!" Kidomaru's rapidly fading voice reaches them just barely. "Sixty-three degrees right, twenty-three feet!"

What?

What does _that_ mean?

…And then Sakura remembers something, all of a sudden. Something she'd forgotten about. Something they'd all, apparently, forgotten about.

The string traps.

Of course the sound-nin realized Kidomaru had fallen under a genjutsu. Of course they noticed Sasuke is no where in sight but had to be close, likely being held by the unseen genjutsu user. All natural conclusions.

All very smart, very quick thinking on their part, all very regrettable for Sakura, who is twenty-three feet away from Sakon and sixty-three degrees to his right until she definitely _isn't_ anymore. A foot shoves into her back in a bruising kick that sends her absolutely _flying_ into the thick, unyielding trunk of a tree.

"Shit!" Shikamaru shouts.

( _Shit!_ )

 _Shit!_

Shit all around, then.

What happens next is something usually reserved for comedies. It's an embarrassingly bad display of coordination on all parts, so pathetic, in fact, that they all may as well be first-year Academy students fighting over a fistful of candy.

Shikamaru's squad stops and doubles back so quickly and clumsily that they nearly run each other over.

The illusion now broken, Sakura swaps with her inner self and throws a punch that sends Sakon flying off of her, only for her to get hit by that invisible force again, a jab to the stomach with enough force to bruise her ribs.

Tayuya flies at her. Kiba snatches her out of the air like a falling leaf.

Sakura fumbles with the Sasuke-barrel, trying to toss it to Ino, who is a safe distance away. Midair, Sakon speeds in to grab it, but then Naruto tackles him out of the way. Ino catches the barrel only to nearly get wrecked by someone who is _not_ Sakon, because he's currently tangling with Naruto, but someone that _looks_ exactly like him, but is also not a clone. In an impressive display of strength, Ino swings the barrel to Shikamaru like they're playing some sordid game of hot potato, and the guy who-isn't-Sakon-but-looks-like-him tries to change direction in midair but fails.

He and Ino both attempt to jump to Shikamaru and wind up smashing into each other in a tangle of limbs. Tayuya charges Shikamaru, who tosses the barrel to Naruto, who gets it knocked out of his hands by Sakon, and it's then caught by Sakura, who manages to kick not-Sakon in the face, but then not-Sakon snatches it out of her hands only to get pummeled by Kiba, and the barrel is flying and fists are swinging and people are screaming and ( _is something playing the fucking flute?!_ )

When the dust settles, they are all worse for wear.

Tayuya has the barrel.

Damn.

"Give that back!" Inner Sakura, in a fit of frustration, screams.

Tayuya is unfazed. "Fuck you."

"What?! Fuck _you_!"

"No, fuck _you_ , you fucking !#% sucking bitch!"

"You're a fucking !#% sucking bitch! I'll !$# #$ on a Thursday with your ! #%$^ on my ! ^$%^ing ! %#$!"

… _I don't remember learning those words._

"Oh yeah? Well –"

"Tayuya!" Sakon snaps. The not-him has mysteriously disappeared, though, now that Sakura has a second to think about it, that's probably explained by the distinctly head-shaped protrusion on his back. As explainable as that can be, anyway.

"All fucking right already, fucking hell!" Tayuya throws Sakura one last glare before she and Sakon race back the way they came.

Shikamaru spares a single second to take a deep breath, wonder what the hell just happened, and how, and why, and then it's all business again.

"Fall back in line! Ino, you're rearguard. Let's move!"

And then they are, indeed, moving.

It's almost funny to pass by Neji and Kidomaru tangling in the woods like it's a normal part of the scenery. It's nice to know that Neji is still in good shape while the enemy appears to be struggling. Kidomaru attempts to rejoin his teammates but is thoroughly stopped by Neji with a forceful reminder that, "I am your opponent!" and an even more forceful sixty-four palms to the face. And the rest of him.

( _Oh yeah, Neji's gonna be fine._ )

 _Yeah…_

The distance between the two groups is short, and their speed takes on a desperate edge. As expected, one of them drops behind. Sakon tosses the barrel to Tayuya, who doesn't even pause to say some curse words. He turns to face the oncoming squad. The five of them are forced to stop. Sakon is quick. And made of two people. They won't be able to just run right by him.

Sakura halts beside Shikamaru, who seems to be going through a mental catalogue of Sakon's abilities.

"Taijutsu, mainly," he mutters. "And the girl…"

"She was the one with the flute," Sakura fills in the missing information. "Long distance fighter."

"You won't be getting to her," Sakon chuckles arrogantly, and Sakura is about to argue back, but then things take a turn for the worse.

A familiar, but different, inky black design begins to crawl over his skin in dots and lines. Sakura remembers Sasuke in the Forest of Death. Her heart sinks. This is not going to be easy, as if it ever had the chance of being easy, but even less so now. She remembers Lee, and Choji, and Neji, fighting their respective battles, and mutters a quick prayer under her breath.

"It's the curse seal," Sakura sighs. Naruto bristles on her right, the very sight of the thing that overtook their teammate driving him to rage. "Whatever strength he's shown thus far, he can double it. Maybe more. I can only imagine it's the same with the rest of them."

"In that case…"

Shikamaru sends a meaningful look in Ino's direction. She meets his eyes and jumps back to land at his side. Shikamaru leans close to Sakura, hopefully close enough that his whisper won't be heard.

"I've already got my shadow wrapped around him, but I haven't stilled him yet. He doesn't notice. Ino and I will stay, you move forward. If Sasuke breaks free, leave Kiba to handle the ranged fighter – he's best suited for it, anyway. On my mark."

She waits. Sakon is egotistical enough that he's simply waiting for them to come at him. Shikamaru drops down to a crouch, his hands coming together in a familiar seal.

"What the hell?" Sakon feels the embrace of the Shadow Possession like a clenched fist around his body, and no sooner are the words out of his mouth than Sakura grabs Kiba by his jacket and Naruto by his wrist. They take off at a full sprint.

"Ukon, quick!"

"I can't move either, you idiot!"

She doesn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. Sakura moves forward at a blistering pace, the two boys at her side, and tries to think quickly. With the curse seal to worry about, things are much more dire than she originally anticipated, and her thoughts are largely on getting Sasuke back as quickly as possible to go assist the rest of her team. The battle with Tayuya will have to be a short one – but, then, it'll be three on one, so surely she won't be strong enough to last that long. Not against three taijutsu users. And then they simply have to grab Sasuke and turn back.

Sakura goes through a mental list of Naruto and Kiba's abilities, trying to come up with a strategy, but it's difficult when she doesn't know what Tayuya's techniques are, and when there's the chance Sasuke will break free, and Kiba will have to fight only with Akamaru, and when –

When she's distracted.

 _She'll be fine._

( _I know that! Ino kicks ass!_ )

… _But you're still worried._

( _So are you._ )

Now is not the time to let herself get sidetracked. Sakura takes a calming breath as best she can at this breakneck speed and prioritizes: reach Tayuya. Incapacitate. Retrieve. Support.

Tayuya has a lead that isn't closing, however short it might be. They're close enough that they can catch glimpses of her hair through the trees up ahead. They need to be faster. Faster is better.

Sakura can do faster. "Kiba. I'm going to throw you."

He looks at her wearily. "What?"

"She's only about fifty yards up ahead, and the gap isn't closing. I think I can throw you that distance in half the time it'd take us to run it."

"But – but why me? And what do you mean you _think_ you can?"

"Because Naruto and my techniques are better suited to cover you," Sakura answers shortly. "And because if I'm wrong and I throw short, you can tornado your way over there to close the distance and kick her ass!"

Kiba is obviously a fan of this idea. "Good point. Alright then, how do I –"

Explaining is a waste of breath, though, so Sakura merely grabs him by the arm. They leap forward together and land on the thick branch of the next tree. She uses the momentum to spin their weight twice, hanging onto Kiba like she's spinning a small child, and on the third go around, she releases him. She and Naruto watch Kiba streak through the air like a bullet.

Naruto whistles long and low. "Man, that looks like fun! You gotta do me next, Sakura-chan."

They hear the shout of Kiba's technique. He closes the last five yards in a spin of Getsuga, knocking Tayuya out of the trees. The barrel is loosed out of her hands and onto the forest floor. Now effectively stilled, Sakura and Naruto reach her and Kiba in no time at all. Once again, it all looks like it's going according to plan.

And, once again, it all falls apart.

Shikamaru would call this a miscalculation. Inner Sakura calls it an "oh God damnit why?!"

She and Naruto land hard in the dirt, preparing to swoop Sasuke away. They feel the presence before they see it.

There is a fifth enemy. A fifth enemy who, in the few seconds it takes him to kick Sasuke's barrel into the air and leap away with it, displays such remarkable grace and efficiency of movement that Sakura just _knows_ that he's the secret weapon. The backup. Orochimaru's "oh shit" button.

She also knows she's going to have to fight him.

Tayuya gawks. She's apparently as surprised as they are by the appearance of an additional teammate. "Ki – Kimimaro! What are you –"

"Fulfilling Orochimaru's dream," Kimimaro answers. Even his voice is graceful. "Take care of this trash, Tayuya."

He's gone in a blur. He must be almost as fast as Lee…

No time to waste. "Kiba –"

"Go! I can handle her," he snaps immediately, preempting Sakura's statement. It certainly looks like he isn't bluffing, either. Tayuya can barely get out of range long enough to take a breath before Kiba is on her again, and comforted by that sight, Sakura and Naruto charge off into the forest.

Again.

Her lungs feel like putty in her chest. It's not the best way to go headlong into a fight, but there are no other options. Her breaths come in gasps. The forest whizzes by them in a distorted smear. Naruto is just _itching_ to reach the guy. She can practically feel his anxiety like a palpable force beside her.

"Naruto." Sakura tries not to sound like she's in possession of just a single lung and only halfway succeeds. "I hope we get to fight that guy together, but if Sasuke decides to stop marinating in his damn keg, you're going to leave him to me."

He grits his teeth. "I can't do that. That guy – he's strong. I can tell. I won't let you fight him alone –"

"Yes," she interjects, "you will. If you don't, Sasuke will get away."

"Sakura-chan, I –"

She smacks him on the head. Gently, though. "Naruto, I know you're worried about me, but this is a mission, and I'm technically your commander. In fact, I want you to call me Mistress."

"What!" His neck nearly cracks from the speed of his incredulous head turn. Finding the grin on her face, however, he can't help but smile. "I get it, Sakura-chan. I'll listen. But you better not die!"

"Back at you."

"Sasuke wouldn't –"

"Have you forgotten your fight on the hospital roof?" Sakura reminds him seriously. "Don't take anything for granted here, Naruto. He's not himself, and he doesn't realize it. Don't go easy on him. Just look at us – we're risking our lives to bring him back, and he didn't give a damn about that, did he?"

"That bastard..." Naruto's voice is a growl. Like, really a growl though, like the kind that comes from an animal, not a human. Sakura glances at him. Something about his face is different, but she can't put her finger on it.

Questions are for later, though. "Exactly. I give you full permission to do whatever it takes – break both of his legs, put him in a coma, I don't fucking care. Just bring him back."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

It's as odd as the first time, this feeling of camaraderie. It's been long enough since their fight with Gaara that she'd almost forgotten the foreign sensation of their strange, off-kilter teamwork – of being part of it.

She's pissed at Sasuke. Furious. Wants-to-shove-her-fist-in-his-mouth _enraged_. And yet, somehow, sprinting alongside Naruto to save the idiot from himself, she finds that, although she'd accepted the mission out of duty, it's also personal. She doesn't just want to complete the mission – she wants to bring Sasuke back, drag him by his ankles if she has to, and not just for Naruto, not just for their friends risking their lives. For her, too. For Team 7.

It's not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling, but Sakura doesn't want to let go of it, this sense of being where she is supposed to be, as ill fitted as they all are, like squares crammed in circular holes. But together.

Sakura remembers the comparison she'd made between herself and Naruto just last night and concedes she may have been wrong. Naruto's convictions suddenly make sense. His tenacious holds on his bonds make sense. Sasuke's desperation makes sense. The feeling she'd had in her heart at the thought of losing Ino from her life _makes sense_.

It all makes sense.

These bonds, clawed and bled and suffered for, are invaluable. Losing them is a pain she'd gladly die to avoid.

And Sasuke…

… _Lost_ _ **everything**_ _._

Her chest constricts, and not just from lack of breath. That amount of suffering…

( _No. Not anymore. He has us – all of us. We just have to remind him_.)

Just as Sakura begins to wonder if this forest is endless, there's a break in the trees up ahead. She and Naruto burst through the space into an open meadow, their feet landing on solid, _dirt_ ground, and she's never been so glad to get out of the trees in her life.

That lasts all of the second it takes to realize that Kimimaro is there waiting for them.

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	19. A Necessary Gamble

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait, everyone! Unfortunately I've got a few things on my plate, but hopefully I'll be able to update again within a few days. Thanks to everyone as usual! Your reviews, favorites and follows make me :)

* * *

Chapter 18

"A Necessary Gamble"

...

It started out alright.

Of course it had, though, with the enemy already caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession. Ino struck Sakon/Ukon down easily in their immobilized state. With their bodies joined, it only took a quick stab to the heart.

And, see, when someone is stabbed in the heart, they die. That's what's _supposed_ to happen. So Shikamaru released his jutsu and they prepared to take off and assist the rest of the team up ahead only for Ino to get snatched out of the air and thrown to the ground like a rag doll.

"Ino!"

She's on her feet in an instant, arcing her body to avoid getting kneed in the ribs, and jumps back to stand by Shikamaru. Her chest constricts. Her inhalations come in noisy gasps. She'd hit the ground hard. Nothing feels broken, but the force of the impact left her feeling rather two-dimensional.

Meeting the eyes of her attacker, he looks even more demonic than before. Those odd markings coalesce into something different, a new appearance entirely. Yellow eyes. Gray skin. He looks like the perfect picture of a demon, one she might've found on an old ornamental tapestry, complete with a horn and everything.

"Why didn't he die?" She wheezes, hoping that Shikamaru will have an answer for her.

The gravelly voice of Ukon gives it to her instead. "While merged, we heal at twice the speed. In the second state of the curse seal, it's ten times faster than that, and combined with my ability to alter cells down to the protein, I'm able to reshape the very structure of our organs. You didn't hit our heart." His grin is malicious, the cruel smile of a predatory creature. "You hit the place where it should have been."

That's bad news, Ino thinks, but Shikamaru doesn't look nearly as worried. "You're bluffing."

Ukon's grin falters slightly. "Observant, aren't you? I'm not bluffing – not completely. You did hit Sakon, but you didn't kill him. He's resting inside of my body."

Shikamaru catches Ino's eyes. The conclusion passes between them easily. The enemy, in his arrogance, just admitted that his partner is incapacitated.

If they're going to beat this guy, they're going to have to do it before the other one can heal.

Moreover, if they heal as fast as they say, they're going to have to kill him with a technique that a body can't recover from. Ino's hand drifts to her supply pouch. Ten shurikan left, ten kunai. Fifteen explosive tags like a deadly deck of cards, five of which are wrapped around half her remaining blades. It's the only thing she has with the type of permanent lethality they'll need, but simply throwing them at this guy won't work. He's too quick.

He's also not as willing to stand still and taunt them as Sakon was. Ukon flexes his fingers and shifts his shoulders in preparation. It's a type of movement that's familiar to Ino, a readjustment she sometimes makes after successfully taking over someone's mind. That means he's not as used to being in control as the other one.

Still, he's fast. He flies forward, feigning a charge at Shikamaru, who extends a shadow that Ukon nimbly sidesteps. Ukon leaps into the air and attempts a drop kick to Ino's head, and although he might be fast, so is Ino. She moves forward to glide underneath him only to get kicked from behind by _a third foot?!_

Sakon's, then.

She uses the force of the momentum to help her gain some distance, spinning out of the way of the arm that reaches for her out of Ukon's back. _Incapacitated my_ _ **ass,**_ she thinks. Had Sakon really healed that quickly, or did Ukon lie? He doesn't seem like the type for that sort of trickery - he's too cocky for that. She waits for him to strike again, catches the first fist launched at her head, then the second, and feels her knees buckle at the force of the third as it makes contact with her gut. Still, she maintains enough presence of mind to feel it: as the third arm extends from Ukon's stomach, his left arm deadens and goes limp in her grip.

The third limb is not Sakon's, then, but Ukon's. He hadn't lied after all. Ukon is simply moving through his _own_ body to hit her, seamlessly trading places with Sakon's unconscious one, one limb at a time.

"Ino, you –"

Ino spares Shikamaru the briefest of glances. It's enough to get both of their messages across.

Ukon twirls around. He sends a right hook at her temple that she narrowly ducks out of range from, her heart thundering like a tribal drum in her chest. One screw up here will cost her life, and by virtue of that, Shikamaru's. She has to think fast and move faster.

There's a barrage of _thunks_ as Shikamaru hurls a fistful of shurikan. Ukon's left arm raises, and they sink harmlessly into the armored, scaly flesh, while a third arm comes out of his stomach. It rams into Ino's shoulder forcefully enough to dislocate it with a wet, dull pop, like a firecracker being set off under water. The pain is sharp and searing and _fuck fuck fuck_ , but it's not enough to distract her from her goal.

The arm he'd originally thrown the hook with had been his right. The fist he'd hit her with, the one sticking out of his stomach, is his left. So that means the incapacitated limb, Sakon's arm - the one that won't be able to retaliate - is the visible one on his left side.

This is the arm she jams the explosive into.

She jumps back with the speed she'd earned from Gai's training, fast enough to set off the paper bomb and be _mostly_ out of range. It goes off with a bang, but it won't be enough to kill him. Her eyes scan the smoke. Shikamaru crouches in the tree on her left, hidden in its branches. There's an arm, severed from the explosion, flung against the base of another tree, and Ukon is…

Where?

There's chuckling. Right next to her ear.

She whirls in the direction of the noise, hands up in a defensive posture and ready to counter, but there's nothing there.

"Are you looking for me?"

All the blood in her body seems to freeze in her veins. Her stomach clenches nauseously.

Surely this is a bad dream.

Surely Ukon's grotesque, misshapen head isn't sticking out of her shoulder.

Fuck rule twenty-five. Ino screams, falling forward in her sheer panic, and vomits. Which actually makes Ukon vomit. Which just makes her vomit more.

"Cut it out!" Ukon snarls. His arm comes out of her stomach – _out of her fucking stomach_ – to wipe his mouth. "I already told you I could manipulate my cellular structure, didn't I? Don't act so surprised."

Ino glances desperately in the direction of Shikamaru's hiding spot. Certainly, her genius teammate will have a solution for this repulsive situation, but unfortunately, Shikamaru is too busy trying not to get killed by the newly recovered Sakon. The missing arm is still at the base of the tree, but Sakon clearly has both.

So, she thinks, the helplessness like a lead ball in her stomach, they're fighting enemies that can heal at inhuman speeds, change their cellular structure, _and_ regrow limbs.

"It's a cruel killing method," Ukon tells her. His mouth is so close to her ear that his lips brush against it, and revolted, she instinctively tries to jerk away from him, which only gets her from her knees to her ass. His laugh is as venomous as his tone. "Fusing our bodies, scraping away your cells over time… Soon, there will be nothing left of you."

"Shi – Shikamaru!"

"I'm trying!" He shouts back. Trying to come up with a plan. Trying to figure out how to subdue the monster going for his throat.

Shikamaru is not a close combat specialist. Sakon is relentless, so fast that his feet hardly ever touch the ground – out of range of the shadows. Shikamaru avoids a punch only to get brutally kicked in the stomach, all while Sakon is airborn. By the time he lands, the force of the blow has pushed Shikamaru far enough away that his shadows can't reach in time. Worse, the repeated failures are costing him. His chakra, already depleted from their pursuit, is draining rapidly.

Think. Plan. Strategize.

If only it were that easy. He flings a kunai that's easily dodged, ducks out of a strike to his head, and leaps out of the way of the follow-up. The tree behind him splinters at the force of Sakon's kick.

 _Shit_. Ino scrambles to get a grasp on this situation. Shikamaru's techniques aren't meant to be used alone, but Sakon is too fast for her to switch minds with. She might be able to pull it off with Ukon, but considering the intricacies of manipulating cellular structures, she might wind up killing herself in the process. If only she could help, if only –

 _Wait._ She stills for a moment, comprehension dawning. As gross as it is, just because Ukon is in her body doesn't mean she can't still use it, right?

"Hey, what are you –"

Ino ignores him. She jumps to her feet and snaps her shoulder back into place. She can't help the cry of pain as her nerves scream obscenities at her from the inside, and she's pleased to hear Ukon shout in an echoing sentiment. She rushes forward, blinking the tears from her eyes and forming the seals, the Liquid Bullets taking Sakon by surprise and catching him in midair, spinning him. She lunges just quickly enough to land a punch to his ridiculously hard head. Reflexively, Sakon lashes out, kicking her in the stomach with enough force that, if she hadn't already vomited, she probably would've hurled.

"You idiot!" Ukon snarls. "Who do you think you're hitting?"

 _Oh?_ Ino hauls her body upright, a plan coalescing despite her pain and panic addled mind. _If he hits me, he hits Sakon. That means he can't counter._

She tries to breathe and re-inflate her flattened feeling organs. She rushes Sakon, who looks dubiously at her. Ino swings her knee up. Sakon back steps, dodging, and she extends her leg to try and catch him in the face only for Ukon to stick his hand out of her body and grab her thigh to stop her.

As she plunges a kunai into the forearm coming out of her side, she's pleased to find they don't share the damage.

Ino reaches for another blade, but Ukon rips the weapons pouch from her thigh and restrains her arms with his. He's snarling angry curses, detailing his plan to destroy her from the inside out, and then he stops.

They both freeze as Shikamaru appears behind them, catching them in his shadow. Ino immediately understands. Ukon won't be able to stop her from moving while they're under Shikamaru's control.

He uses her body like a puppet, launching a new offensive against Sakon. They move in tandem, chasing him down, though Sakon is too fast for Shikamaru's relatively slower speed – they hardly manage a hit. Shikamaru, meanwhile, guesses he can keep it up for maybe three minutes at the most, but he's counting on the fact that his enemies can't know that.

Sakon tries to maneuver around Ino to get at Shikamaru, bouncing between tree trunks, but Shikamaru strategically places her body between them. He forces her hands to form the familiar seals. She provides the chakra.

The Liquid Bullets once again knock Sakon out of his path. With her distance attacks, and unable to hurt her without injuring Ukon, and also unable to touch the ground for more than a few seconds without getting caught in Shikamaru's shadow, Sakon's position is decidedly disadvantaged.

"Damnit!" He shouts, leaping away from Shikamaru/Ino's barrage of attacks. "I can't get them like this! Ukon! You have to get out of her body!"

"I can't move, you idiot!"

"Fuck!"

Sakon darts away, running up the side of a tree and leaping. His intention is obvious.

He jumps at Ino with his arm outstretched. Ukon's hands are still exposed, jutting out of Ino's sides, and Sakon grabs his brother's hands to fuse them back together. Shikamaru lets them.

When they've successfully rejoined and look all the more arrogant for it, their feet have hardly touched the ground before Shikamaru releases the Shadow Possession from Ino's body to catch them in it instead.

"Ino," Shikamaru grunts in a warning tone. He has thirty seconds, if they're lucky.

Ino scans the ground. Her weapons pouch is only a few feet away and she dives for it, drawing her last four explosive-rigged kunai from the pouch and throwing them into Sakon's body. Then she tosses the remaining stack of tags at them for good measure. The paper bombs flutter to a stop in a wide circle at their feet.

"Hey! Ukon! Do something!"

"What do you expect me to do? I still can't move!"

Shikamaru trembles with the effort as the two thrash against the binding. He's weak enough now that their movements are starting to work. Their arms successfully rise, inch by inch, to try and yanks the kunai from their body.

Ino slaps her hands together, activating the chakra seals on the explosive tags. The fuses ignite.

Five seconds.

She thoroughly wishes she had Sakura's earth-wall right about now.

Four seconds.

Ino sprints for Shikamaru and grabs him by his upper arm. Every grueling hour spent training with Gai, every lap around the village, every day she trained to close the enormous gap between her and Lee as they raced through the training grounds, pays off right now.

Three seconds.

It has to. They're fifteen yards from the explosives. She bends her knees. They can't give Sakon and Ukon time to get out of the blast radius. Shikamaru turns his head to look at her, his eyes trusting. Ino clings to that.

Two seconds.

Hopefully that's all she needs. She yanks Shikamaru straight from his feet and props him against her shoulder. The Shadow Possession breaks. Ino gains twenty yards in one desperate leap, every last trace of her chakra funneled into gaining that distance, in exerting the proper control, every contraction of muscle fueled by the maddening pump of her heart.

One second.

She hears the enemy scrambling to jump away from the pile of explosive tags, but there is only a second left, and it's not enough.

Ino and Shikamaru only make it a total of fifty yards from the center of the explosion when it goes off with an ear-splitting series of bangs. Sakon and Ukon are less than fifteen. And, judging by the way the force of the bombs still sends Ino careening out of the path of her intended movement, flying through the air with scorching heat at her back, she knows that distance made all the difference.

When the bombs at last stop going off, she and Shikamaru peer through the decimated remains of the forest. They're pretty sure that not even Sakon and Ukon can regrow from the meaty pile of viscera left near the epicenter of the explosion. Ino is surprised to find the sight more satisfying than disturbing.

"Are you alright?" Shikamaru's arms quiver as he props himself up against a tree. He's covered in bruises. Lacerations line his exposed skin from the debris.

Ino looks down at her body, free of parasitic ninja, thankfully. Her fingers are still trembling with adrenaline. Her shoulder aches like it's clamped in a vice, but other than that, and her own set of bruises and cuts and minor burns, she's miraculously unscathed.

Or, that's what she thinks, until she's suddenly coughing up blood.

"Ukon," she strains to say it. "I don't know what he did."

Shikamaru's face is grim. "Can you still travel?"

Ino wipes her mouth. More blood. "Not sure."

"Well, we'll be no use to anyone the way we are right now. Five minutes to catch our breath, then we'll move forward."

Relieved, Ino allows her body to relax limply against the tree behind her for all of one second. In the eery silence brought on by the aftermath of the explosion, it's significantly easier to hear and sense the unnatural movement in the forest. The distinctly _human_ movement.

"There's no way," Ino breathes. Shikamaru goes rigid beside her.

Sakon and Ukon regenerated from the meaty pile of steaks they'd left behind?! Is that physically possible? She's fairly certain not even Orochimaru could fix his body after that much damage. If those two somehow managed to do it, and in Ino and Shikamaru's weakened state, there's absolutely no chance of their survival. They share a solemn look, a resignation of sorts, and then Ino hears it. The weight of someone's body falling from a branch behind her.

Prepared to go out fighting, she jams her hand into her supply pouch only to stop at the relieved look on Shikamaru's face. She's only seen him smile that brightly half-a-dozen times in her whole life.

"You guys," he sighs. Ino twists around and nearly cries with relief.

Like the glorious savior he always dreamed he would be, Lee stands behind them, Choji braced awkwardly against his shoulder and Neji standing aloofly off to the side. They look worse for wear - exhausted, surely, and their clothes matted down with blood in some places, but standing. When Lee flashes her his trademark grin, Ino actually leaps up to hug him.

Shikamaru, not one for such displays of affection, only waves at them to have a seat. Judging by the look of them, they're all going to need that five minutes to catch their breath. "Good thing I brought extra soldier pills…"

#

What is it with bad guys and their need to talk? And what is it with Naruto and his need to encourage them?

Inner Sakura is of the opinion that talking during a fight is time wasted, or else something to be taken advantage of, or at the very least, stupid, like when all these villains start explaining their abilities in detail rather than keeping it to themselves so as not to reveal their weaknesses.

At least She and Naruto learn a few things. Like, for example, that Orochimaru plans to wear Sasuke's body like a suit. She wonders if Sasuke would've left, having known that.

 _Probably._

( _Yeah…_ )

There's another thing that makes her hesitant to interrupt this Q&A session, too.

Something is wrong with Naruto. Or, maybe _wrong_ isn't the right word, because he seems fine. Sort of. His chakra is gigantic – more gigantic than usual. Also more evil.

Hmm.

She's not an idiot – she figured there was a reason why everyone in the village treated Naruto so poorly. If even distant people like Neji and heedlessly aggressive ones like Kiba could make friends, surely someone as friendly and outgoing as Naruto would have at least _one_. But he hadn't. So, it had to be something else.

She's not sure what that "something else" is, but she's pretty sure it's this. His eyes are red, his canines elongated, he's snarling like a feral dog, and really, Sakura thinks ruefully, would it have been so _bad_ for _anyone_ to just _tell_ her?! If Naruto is secretly some kind of monster that might go berserk at any provocation, that seems like it would've been good information to know, seeing as she's ( _on his fucking team!_ )

 _There must be a reason nobody told us._

( _What reason is good enough to potentially put our lives at risk?_ )

 _Um… classified…?_

( _Yeah. That's some bullshit._ )

The good part about whatever is happening is that all of Naruto's unbridled rage is being directed at the enemy. When he summons nearly fifty shadow clones, she holds back, observing Kimimaro's movements. They're as graceful and fluid as she thought. Not impossible to counter, though, with Sakura's strategy of offense-as-defense.

Well. Maybe.

She watches five Narutos get skewered as Kimimaro ejects sharp, bladed bones from his body like a lethal porcupine. If she attempted to block his attacks by striking back with double force, and he ejected a bone…

Sakura cringes. She does not want a sharp object sliding lengthwise into her arm. Or her foot. Or anywhere else.

( _What do we do?_ )

 _I think you're fast enough if you're just striking, but we can't rely on any holds or throws. Contact lasting more than a second could be lethal._

( _Wouldn't it make more sense for you to sneak up on him and do the striking, then?_ )

 _I'm not as good at taijutsu as you, though. He'd be on us as soon as he felt the blow, and I can't counter with half the force you can._

( _We could try sticking to distance?_ )

 _Maybe. But we only have so much chakra left, and I doubt Liquid Bullets would do much damage. There are too many variables…_

( _I think I see where you're going with this. We have to switch at a moment's notice, and we have to do it faster than normal. How?_ )

It's a good thing that Naruto is basically unkillable.

"Naruto! I'll be right back!"

He spares her a glance and nothing more than that. She runs to the edge of the forest, out of Kimimaro's line of sight, and switches personalities. If he doesn't know she can use genjutsu, they'll be doubly advantaged.

Sakura closes her eyes to meet her other half at the gate. Looking around, she's surprised to find the landscape altered. Where there had only been the simple field of flowers with the modest house, the grassy meadow now tapers off into a rocky field that stops abruptly at the sheer face of a cliff. At the bottom of the ravine is a river, though it doesn't go very far yet.

 _Your creativity is improving._

( _Don't be so sure. This took me a month._ )

Sakura smiles sympathetically at her inner self, studying her for a moment. She hadn't let her hair grow out the same way that Sakura's had, now long enough to keep it from sticking up at odd angles.

( _So, what's the plan?_ )

They face each other on opposite sides of the mismatched gate. They've become adept enough at switching by now that it takes merely a second, simply swapping places by pushing a foot over the line. The second it takes is too slow to face someone like Kimimaro, though.

 _Do you remember a while ago when we tried to control our body at the same time?_

( _Oh yeah. Mom was pissed about the door._ )

 _I think we should sit in the gate together._

Inner Sakura raises an eyebrow. ( _There's no way we can master something like that so fast._ )

 _No_ , Sakura corrects her, _not to control together, but to try a different method. Remember what Ino said about the imagery we use to switch places?_

( _That it's to help us distinguish where we are in our head?_ )

 _Exactly. The line is arbitrary, and so are the gate and the movement. It's just a representation of what we're actually doing – switching between the front and the backseat of consciousness, so to speak – so we don't get tangled in each other or wind up trying to be two people at once._

( _So…_ ) Inner Sakura considers the words. ( _So if we pick a faster form of symbolism, we might be able to trade faster._ )

 _It's worth a try, right?_

( _Right. So we… what? Tap each other?_ )

 _Like tag team? That could work._

They both stare at the line between them, the doorway of the gate, like it might form a head and bite them. The last time they'd straddled that line together they'd nearly knocked themselves out.

Sakura sits first. The gateway is wide enough that they can sit facing each other comfortably, their knees almost touching, and then, an inch at a time, Inner Sakura slides down the beam to join her other half on the ground.

So far so good.

They're on the line together, sitting together, and –

 _I hope Ino's okay if she were hurt I would I wonder if I were only stronger Kakashi-sensei might have will she always be stronger than me if I'll be okay when Tsunade-sama –_

 _(That idiot Sasuke couldn't he at least have if he weren't so sexy why can't Sakura just admit I wish she knew I couldn't have one day I'll catch up to Lee and –)_

Sakura's eyes snap open. If anyone had been watching, they would've seen her standing in the forest, flickering in and out of view like bad reception on the TV as she and Inner Sakura untangled themselves from each other.

There's about ten seconds of nervous silence inside her head as both personalities come to a few different conclusions: they've evidently become distinct entities to the point of being able to keep not only thoughts, but emotions from each other. …Which means their shared pool of consciousness is only a fraction of each other's thoughts, and their perceptions don't occur in exact congruence, which, in turn, must mean they both have entirely separate minds of their own.

...Which _also_ means that Sakura's head is fractured into more parts than she thought.

( _Yo. You're_ _ **super**_ _fucked up._ )

 _What! I – well – you…_ Sakura drops it.

It's true.

She'll have to ask Ino about this later, but it seems that, for now, they've both managed to push their separate minds to the back and stabilize the forefront of their consciousness together. Sakura attempts to move her body and finds that she's still completely in control. That's a good sign.

 _Okay. You try._

They rest their hands on each other's knees with one finger poised in the air. Inner Sakura gives one quick tap, and Sakura pulls as soon as she registers the impact, withdrawing her mind from the driver's seat of their body. When their eyes open, it's Inner Sakura looking out of them.

"Sweet!"

 _It worked!_

It's about half a second faster than their previous method. It's still not as quick as it would be if they could do it simply by thought, but as it is, they're not yet so in tune that they can manage to read each other's intent without signals. This will have to do for now.

( _Yeah. Now we just have to hope there's nothing we're not accounting for. You ready?_ )

 _I think so_.

She taps Inner Sakura's knee. The switch is near immediate. Smiling at their success, Sakura forms the illusion over her body and turns to sneak her way back onto the battlefield where Naruto still, miraculously but unsurprisingly, has about fifty clones out.

( _Wait a second_.) Sakura stops abruptly. Absently, she notices the long grass crinkle under her feet. She'll have to adjust the genjutsu for that... ( _Just so you know, I don't think I'm stronger than you_ ), her other half says lightly. ( _And I never have._ )

Sakura looks blankly out at the battle in the meadow as that information sinks in, realizing her other self had caught that thought. And dismissed it.

 _Thank you._

She turns her full attention to the fight. Naruto hasn't made much headway. Kimimaro doesn't appear winded, but she can tell that her teammate, while hardly having dipped into his unbelievable chakra stores, has spent his time getting increasingly angrier. That's probably not a good thing. Working with Naruto is already complicated by his rashness, but at this level of rage, it's unlikely he'll listen to any plan that doesn't involve him being the one to bash heads.

When Sasuke chooses this moment to finally stop marinating in Orochimaru's juices, she knows the situation is only going to get worse. Moreover, Kimimaro isn't just going to let him chase after their rogue teammate.

Sakura summons a clone, allowing it to step out of the tree cover.

"Sakura-chan! Sasuke is –"

"I know."

Naruto looks back at Kimimaro, and then to where Sasuke has disappeared into the forest, and then back to her, getting increasingly more frustrated with each turn of his head.

"I'll get this guy, you go stop Sasuke!" Naruto shouts with predictable disregard for their conversation detailing the exact opposite. He's likely made the deduction that he's got a better chance – or perhaps his bloodlust is getting the better of him. "I'll catch up with you!"

"Right!"

Sakura's clone circumvents the plethora of conjured bodies and sprints for the edge of the forest behind Kimimaro. There is the sound of rapidly dispersing shadow clones as their enemy dispels them, shoving his rapier-like weapon through their bodies without batting an eye. His movements are so fluid they appear perpetual as he tries to reach Sakura and stop her from escaping.

It's not long before Kimimaro bursts through the wall of shadow clones. In an effort to avoid getting similarly lanced, Sakura flips off one clone's back, keeping her distance as she leads him back into the center of the battlefield.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's shout is enraged and panicked. "You have to run!"

Sakura has no intention of doing that, however. Naruto is obviously unsuited to fight Kimimaro, whereas he's exactly matched to taking down Sasuke, what with both of their heads being made of rock, and so that's how it's going to be.

Kimimaro twirls through a barrage of clones like a ballerina, the sharp point of his sword slicing through them as if they were made from paper. She twists her body out of the way of a sweeping strike only to get caught by a fist to her lower abdomen. From his knuckles shoot another bone.

As she thought, anything more than instantaneous contact with this guy will almost certainly mean death.

"Sakura-chan!"

The bone pushes through flesh – or would have, if there'd been any. Sakura holds the illusion together for a moment longer. The clone grips Kimimaro's forearm, its face contorting in pain, and just as Naruto is about to lose his mind with rage – his chakra is an ocean around them, a whirlpool of choppy waters and killing intent – the real Sakura reaches her hand up from the ground, pulling Kimimaro into the loosened soil.

As soon as she can, as soon as he's up to his neck with only his head above ground, she releases his ankle and shoots out of the dirt, simultaneously hardening it back into clay and rock.

She's proud to see that she took him by surprise. He shifts his shoulders, checking the strength of his earthen cage, and, still unwilling to approach him, Sakura chucks a shurikan at his head. Sure enough, a bone shoots out of the ground to block it. Even buried up to his neck, he's still perfectly lethal.

This won't be over quickly.

"Naruto! Go after Sasuke!"

The relief on his face at seeing her alive seems to have calmed him somewhat. "But, Sakura-chan –"

"Remember what we talked about!"

The determination – and the authority – on her face sway him. Naruto nods once, his teeth gritted to hold back any further protests, and takes off running in Sasuke's direction. He disappears into the trees in a matter of seconds.

Which is about how long it takes for Kimimaro to burst out of his cozy prison. The bones he'd used to loosen the earth retract into his body. When he's brushed off the dirt, she knows something has changed. Even the slight shrug of his shoulders and the short steps he takes toward her display a new, smoother power. From where his robe has slipped open, she sees the jagged, forking line of his cursed seal.

Sakura rabidly pushes back her fear. She's outmatched, and she knows it, but it's a risk every member of her team took today. Out of respect for them, she'll do no less.

If she dies, it won't be while running.

( _We can't think like that…_ )

 _How am I supposed to think, then? There's no way we can beat this guy._

Kimimaro stares at her from the short distance between them, calculating her potential. It's good that he doesn't know what she's capable of – surprise is a welcome advantage – but there are only so many tricks she has up her sleeve.

( _Maybe not, but if we're lucky, we can hold him off long enough for one of our squad to catch up._ _Kiba looked like he was doing pretty well…_ )

 _Gai-sensei does say that luck is a type of strength too…_

Sakura sincerely hopes it's the kind she turns out to have.

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 _#_

 _Feedback? :)_


	20. One Lost, One Found

**A/N** : Sorry everyone! FFN decided to explode when I tried to upload this chapter on Friday. A bunch of error messages were initially thrown my way, and the uploaded chapter didn't appear available from certain browsers, so I took it down with the idea to wait and upload it again. It seems everything's working fine now, so here we go! Sorry again! Happy reading :)

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Chapter 19

"One Lost, One Found"

...

* * *

"That illusion was convincing," Kimimaro speaks at last, "but I won't fall for something like that again." He switches his grip on the sword, and Sakura takes a moment to commit its length to memory. Details might just be her saving grace here.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. That power of yours – I've never seen anything like it."

"My kekkai genkai," he explains. "The ability to control bone cells. It is unique to my clan."

"Are there others?"

"No. I am the last."

Sakura circles him slowly, gauging the distance and trying to formulate a plan. In other words, stalling. This is one time where taking advantage of the enemy's penchant for chitchat will be in her favor. More time wasted means more time for reinforcements to arrive – _if_ reinforcements arrive.

Stalling, surprise, and luck. These are, unfortunately, her biggest hopes. Sakura digs her heels into the dirt and grimly prepares to fight.

Kimimaro lives up to all her expectations. He crouches low and charges her, the sword swinging at the last second. Sakura takes a step back, dodging, but he's fast. As fast as Lee, maybe faster. He follows up with a series of short slashes, half of them punctuated by kicks and swipes at her ankles, and each time she evades him without a blink of time to spare. Sidestepping a thrust, she twirls on the toe of her left boot to swing her right leg at him in a fierce kick. Her foot collides with something that feels an awful lot like a steel door: his ribs.

The strength behind the blow hardly even jars him. _Hopefully he'll think that's all we're capable of._ She yanks her limb back and crouches so low she nearly hits the dirt. Bracing her weight on her hands, she shoves herself backwards, airborne and still dodging his strikes. Sakura hits the ground and has all of one second to roll out of the way of his sword. He impales it neatly into the earth where her head had been.

As she thought, distance does not seem to be in her favor either. She manages to put ten yards between herself and Kimimaro when he lifts his fist and releases a barrage of knuckle bones – ( _Really?!_ ) – in a wide spray. A quick earth wall stops them, and understanding his movements a bit more thoroughly now, she cloaks herself behind the wall and prepares for a second round of fighting.

Kimimaro approaches the structure without any hints of wariness.

"How presumptuous," he says softly, stopping in front of it, "that such weak people would attempt to thwart Orochimaru-sama's ambitions."

 _Ready?_

After that remark, Inner Sakura is itching to fight. ( _Hell yeah._ )

This could get messy. This almost certainly _will_ get messy. They haven't tried this beyond the first blow before, back at the finals with Lee, but hopefully with the increased speed of the switch…

Invisible, Sakura perches atop the earth wall, takes a deep breath, and launches herself at Kimimaro. He has time to register the crumble of dirt under her feet, but that's all he sees before Inner Sakura blinks into existence from an angle above him, driving her fist into his left shoulder hard enough to jar the bone from its socket. Superhuman calcification or not, bones are still part of a larger structure of joints and ligaments and tendons, and these are her target.

Thankfully, she's managed to take him by surprise. He hadn't been expecting that type of strength. The bone of his left forearm spears through the skin as he jabs it at her, but she's already disappeared again. She reappears not a second later to kick him in the knee, and then vanishes. His leg crooks awkwardly around the joint from the direct impact. Even so, it takes him no more than a moment to right himself.

By the way his eyes dart around, she can tell his first assumption is that she's using speed to disappear – like a shunshin – and Sakura fully intends to take advantage of that misjudgment. Kimimaro puts his back to the earth wall in an attempt to cover at least one blindspot, and she approaches him from the front this time, intending to slam a kunai into his eye. She stops short when bones explode from his skin at various angles.

Jumping to get out of range, she throws the kunai into the wall behind him instead. He turns toward the sound reflexively, exposing his back, and Sakura kicks her heel at his kidney. The force of it pushes him forward and sends him rolling, though he's on his feet again faster than she can reach him. His eyes flicker to the earth wall. A shunshin is most effective in straight lines – decidedly _not_ how she'd delivered her attack. Sakura knows he's probably figured it out by now.

"I admit, I was wrong. You are strong," he concedes. "But you won't win by trickery."

The admission might've been something of a victory worth celebrating, but Sakura is too distracted by the fact that he's currently ejecting his spinal column from the back of his neck. When he pulls it out completely, it's easy to tell by the many joints that it's a flexible weapon. One with a wide range. If she goes in to attack linearly, he only has to swing it out in an arc to catch her in its attack radius.

Kimimaro closes his eyes.

 _He's trying to listen for us._

( _So, let's make some noise then._ )

 _The forest is too quiet. He'll know if I create any artificial sounds._

( _Then let's test his claim._ )

 _Right._

Sakura forms the hand seals to create a similarly cloaked illusory clone. Approaching cautiously, they flank him on both sides, and when the clone is within striking range, its feet brush through the grass a little bit too loudly. Kimimaro whirls on it, fully exposing his back to Sakura, who rears back and triumphantly launches a punch at the back of his head.

Only to watch in near slow-motion horror as a spear of bone extends backwards out of Kimimaro's elbow, impaling her deep on her left side.

Unable to stop an agonized yelp, she wrenches her body backwards off of the pointed bone, but it takes her a moment too long in her pain. She can't collect her mind quickly enough to ball up her consciousness and switch with Sakura to hide, and with her fully visible, Kimimaro swings the spine at her. She manages to twist her body enough that he can't wrap it around her waist. It catches her by the arm instead. The pop of her elbow sets off every nerve ending in her body; for a moment, there's nothing in her head but the disharmonious coalescence of two panicked screams.

Pushing a short bone-blade out of his palm, Kimimaro tugs her toward him, his arm outstretched to stab her in the heart, and in a burst of adrenaline-induced clarity, Sakura wraps her hand around the spine and pulls back. If it's tug-of-war, this, at least, is a battle Inner Sakura won't lose.

It's equally satisfying and disturbing to flip Kimimaro around by his own spine. She swings him right over her head and, with every bit of strength in her body, throws him into the dirt. When she pulls him up again, however, he's recovered from his astonishment enough to let go of the spine midair rather than be thrown into the dirt again. The momentum flings him a good distance away, but Sakura is injured and obviously fatigued. Kimimaro rushes her, and she drops the spine, not about to experiment with a weapon that she's never used before, to swing her limp arm up and form the tiger seal.

The Liquid Bullets conjure at the pointer finger of her good hand and shoot through the narrowing gap between them, smacking him once in the chest. The rest, he dodges, but at least it forces him to keep his distance for now. Sakura clutches at the wound in her side and winces. The bone nearly went all the way through her. Blood has soaked through her vest and the waistband of her long black pants. She's glad, at least, that she decided against wearing the light pink skirt for this mission.

 _It doesn't match our new vest anyway_ , Sakura points out half-heartedly.

Kimimaro circles her. The curse mark has spread over his whole body in forked lines, and she takes some pride in forcing him into this stage, though this might be as far as she gets. The blood loss isn't trivial, and her left arm doesn't just feel dislocated at the elbow – the humerus is likely broken.

"You're capable of two natures," he points out. "That's rare for someone of your age. You seem to have quite a few talents."

Inner Sakura grins at him, trying not to let the pain show. "That's the benefit of being two people."

Kimimaro doesn't reply. Part of her hoped he would ask about the strange comment, if only to stall for more time, but he doesn't appear interested in chatting anymore. She hadn't quite hidden her injuries well enough either, it seems, because he approaches her directly and with far less caution. Her other half taps Inner Sakura's knee frantically – _switch! I can hide us!_ – but Kimimaro is fast, so fast. There's only a second before he's right in front of her, and Inner Sakura, still in control, fumbles: switch or fight? Run or counter?

Her other half pushes at their consciousness, at last usurping Inner Sakura's place at the forefront, but her inner's hesitation has cost them time and they're out of it, now. Kimimaro's encases his forearm in long, narrow bones that extend past his fist and end in five sharp points. Sakura manages to avoid getting impaled in the chest by stumbling to the side and twists to evade the foot aimed at her sternum. Forced to the ground by her clumsy dodging, she fumbles to her hands and feet just fast enough to see his knee coming at her face. Another sharp bone juts out of it – long enough to go through her forehead, surely – and she rolls out of the way, staggering backwards, somehow making it to her feet –

Partly. Halfway to a full standing posture, Kimimaro raises his forearm, still covered in those steel-strength bones, and slams it over the top of her head.

The next three seconds are an incoherent mishmash of sensations. The first is entirely blackness. The next is a cacophony of thoughts that explode behind her eyes like sped up subtitles – _Iguessthisisit(ifonlyI'dthoughtfaster)ifonlyIcould(whydidshe) –_ and then it's like the whole world is pressing down, pressurizing the inside of her skull. Sakura screams, but her voice drowns in something, swallowed as if she'd opened her mouth to an emptiness so absolute and consuming that no air exists to carry her voice. No sound comes, but there is _pain_ , and the undulating feeling of sinking, and falling, like being tied to an elastic cord and hurdled off a cliff. She isn't sure which one of them tried to scream. For a moment, she isn't even sure which one of them she is.

When her eyes fly open to see Kimimaro standing over her, Inner Sakura's first thoughts are: ( _I have to move_.) And then, almost more pressingly: ( _It's quiet_.)

Her other half does not reply. Her other half, in fact, is nowhere she can find.

( _Sakura!_ )

No answer.

Her mind echoes back at her emptily. The sudden sense of loneliness rips through her with an acute agony – more so, even, than the hole in her side, than the break in her arm, than the personification of death standing above her with astonishment clear in his expression, and she's not the one that usually handles pain. She isn't as good at it, didn't live the emotional torment of the other Sakura.

( _This is how I know you're stronger than I am_ ), she whispers into the void, her heart achingly hopeful of a reply. ( _You did this alone. I can't._ )

There is no one to disagree with her.

"You're still conscious." Sunlight haloes Kimimaro's face, but she can easily see the surprise there.

Sakura blinks the wetness from her eyes and ferociously clings to her anger. She rolls out of range and rises gracelessly to her feet, ignoring the way the world warps and wrinkles in her vision like a sheet snapping in the wind.

"I told you. You're fighting two people," she growls, viciously fighting down the thought that perhaps she should be using past tense, now. "You'll have to kill us both."

Kimimaro takes it as a challenge. "Fine, then."

To her other half, this pain would be nothing, and this is the mantra in Inner Sakura's head as she forces her broken arm to move, to form the seals. She has almost no chakra left, but if she's going to die, then she'll die bloodied and beaten and when she can't do a thing left to prevent it, and not a moment sooner.

She hasn't yet mastered the Water Bullet Technique well enough to hope to sever any limbs with it, but at point blank range, the pressurized spray from her mouth is enough to force Kimimaro to take a step back. She uses the delay to slam her fist into his gut with enough force to send him flying. She follows up with a page from Lee's book. It's not quite a Lotus technique, but it's the best she can do with her injuries. She braces herself on her good arm and kicks up into his chest, hitting the ribs he extends to protect himself, but the pressure is still enough to push him further into the air with each successive kick.

Finally, she twists her body, arcing around his form to get atop him and slams both feet into his back, driving his body into the earth.

The impact is powerful enough to create a small crater. It's not enough to actually hurt him, though – not with his ridiculous defense. Sakura attempts to stumble off of him quickly enough to avoid further injury but doesn't quite make it in time. The bones sticking out of his shoulder blades catch her when he flips onto his back, slicing into her calf with a searing pain that sends her tumbling.

She's going to die. She blinks, but her eyes stay closed an extra half-second, and when she looks up, Kimimaro is standing over her again, a bone rapier poised over her face. Without a word, he drives the point down into her forehead.

Almost. He would've, if not for the shadow.

Sakura blinks again and wonders if maybe she really is dead. Surely, the phrase echoing in her ears is a manifestation of the afterlife, the timing too precise, but real or imagined, the words float to her on the meadow breeze. The most beautiful ones she's ever heard in her life: "Shadow Possession, successful."

No, wait. Scratch that. The most beautiful words she's ever heard in her life come a second later as the shadow disperses and Kimimaro leans down, his face contorted in that distinct mixture of concern and antagonistic ire that could only belong to one person. The one person, no less, she most wished to see again before she died.

"You've looked better, Forehead."

"So have you," Sakura jokes, though the humor flattens somewhat with her tears and the squeak in her voice. Relief overwhelms the pain in her body, jarring a a shuddering giggle from her diaphragm, the hysterical sort born of emotional overload and that winds up oscillating rapidly between sobbing and laughing. ( _Maybe I am lucky after all_ ), she thinks, marveling at the wisdom of Gai-sensei. Ino does not respond to her comment, too busy checking the plethora of wounds, and all the words Sakura wants to say jam in her throat and catch in the expanding bubble of disbelief and deliverance: ( _Thank you thank you thank you thank you, I fucking love you - though I guess I should keep that to myself anyway,_ _because if Sakura were here she'd be –_ )

The bubble bursts at the phrase. Her laughter and tears die with an almost eery immediacy. Her sudden reticence does not go unnoticed. Ino carefully knots a strip of cloth from Kimimaro's robe around Sakura's torso, and with achingly gentle pressure, helps Sakura sit upright. The rest of the group has gathered around them now. Sakura swivels her head to meet their eyes, the concern ubiquitous on their faces, their clenched fists and the nervous shifting and the _worry_ – and all for her. All this care from these people, her friends, for her.

( _I wish you were here to see this_ ), Sakura thinks to the emptiness in her mind. The renewed stream of tears run down her face unabashedly. ( _You deserve it_.)

"Sakura." Even Kimimaro's terrifying visage is not enough to offset the apprehension in Ino's voice. "Are you okay?"

( _No_ ). The word is almost out of her mouth before Sakura flexes her jaw to keep it caged between her teeth. She wants to tell them the truth. She wants to rage and cry and scream, ( _I'm not okay, I'm miserable, I'm the worst I've ever been, as I'll ever be_ ), but she doesn't, because that's not what Sakura would want. Her other half would have taken over – would bury this pain for the sake of duty, and more importantly, for their friends. All of them are bloodied and beaten and raw. She glances at Ino's limp body in Choji's arm and the sight of her battered form, the blood on her chin and the ends of her hair, makes Sakura sick with helpless rage.

Will she have to deal with this for the rest of her life, alone? Without her other half to temper the maelstrom of emotions in her heart, to dampen the lit fuse of her personality? How? How did Sakura shove all this down for so damn long?

Inner Sakura has no idea. There is no one to answer the question. The hopelessness is crushing and utterly alien to her, a person literally born of hopes and dreams, and she has no way to divert it. It bursts from her like steam from a kettle, "This is why I need you here!" She screams, stumbles to her feet and throws her hands up like a curse at God himself. "Where the hell are you?!"

"What –" Ino rushes to steady her as Sakura staggers and nearly faints, her head jellied from blood less and the pain gripping her from all directions. Her mind wavers in the throes of near unconsciousness, and for that brief moment, it's not Ino that reaches for her, but Kimimaro.

Their reactions come instinctively. The movements, reflexes born of their lifestyle, happen so quickly and neatly it almost appears choreographed. Sakura lashes out, a half punch, half push motion aimed for the easy target of "Kimimaro's" torso. Ino thoughtlessly raises a hand to catch Sakura's as if it were a rubber ball thrown by Lee. The force overwhelms her, and there's a brief moment of alarm as her mind registers the threat in the way of a well programmed machine – _alert! Danger!_ – before her body reacts on its own. Or, rather, Kimimaro's does. Ribs burst from her skin with a surprising lack of pain.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouts, as baffled as she is, "What the hell are you -"

"It wasn't -" _me_ , she wants to finish, but suddenly can't. Sakura has regained enough presence of mind to babble an apology that quickly dies at the blank look on Kimimaro's face. Bewildered, no one moves for a long moment, so long that when Ino at last lifts Kimimaro's hand to his chest with startling urgency, his mouth open in a strained gasp, every one of them flinches at the sudden movement. The intake of breath shudders, stops, revives itself in Ino as she returns to her own body and flails in Choji's arms as if waking from a night terror. And then the unthinkable happens.

Kimimaro dies a natural death.

The luck is unfathomable. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Sakura wouldn't believe it for an instant.

"I didn't notice because I was worried about Sakura, I thought he was just injured from the fight but he – I guess he must've been sick," Ino rambles as if they'd all turned and accused her of murder. Then again, perhaps the panic is appropriate. She'd nearly died herself. A moment longer and...

"I remember him saying something about that," Sakura offers after a beat of silence. The absurdity of the situation has dampened her grief, at least for the moment. "I guess... he just had bad timing?"

Kiba cautiously prods the limp corpse. "Huh."

"Yeah..."

"So... what do we do now?"

Right. The mission. Sakura glances at each member of the group and silently catalogues their injuries. Dried blood covers a large portion of the left side of Choji's neck. Lee is putting on a brave, youthful face, but she can tell he's not in much better shape. Neji sports a variety of shallow stab wounds but is upright, at least. Shikamaru: minor burns, scrapes, obvious exhaustion, if the wheezing is any indication. Kiba just looks tired, and Ino…

"What happened to you?" Sakura steps forward, her brow pinched in concern. Ino is leaning heavily on Shikamaru, but there don't appear to be any major physical injuries. She looks up at Sakura tiredly and can't seem to find the energy to explain. Sakura notes again the blood on her chin and the corners of her mouth, which only spikes her uneasiness exponentially.

Shikamaru answers for her. "One of our opponents fused with her and did some kind of internal damage. We're not sure what's wrong yet."

Not good. Sakura tries to gauge the urgency of the situation, but before she can puzzle it out with him, Ino interrupts her thought. "What," Ino tries to speak and winds up pausing to cough wetly. It's not a promising sound. "What happened to _you_?"

The events replay in an instant. The absence aches more than it had a minute ago, somehow.

A lot.

Too much.

She wonders how much she should say. Maybe it would be better to lie, to explain the physical wounds and hide the one much, much deeper than that. At least until they all get home. Sakura flexes her jaw and tries to swallow the lump in her throat. The fear and the uncertainty come back full force now that she's not fighting for her life, and the look of concern on her friends' faces cracks her half-hearted attempt at emotional restraint. She's never been good at that, never wanted to be. Not like Sakura.

"I fucked up," she chokes out the words in a whisper. The significance of all the tears she's cried today is not lost on Ino. Sakura, the other one, would hate to cry in front of her. They would have switched.

"Where…?" She can't finish the question, just as Sakura can't meet her eyes.

"Gone," Sakura explains quietly. "He hit her on the head and… I don't know what happened."

A tense silence passes over the group as they stare at her unsurely. Ino carefully pulls away from Shikamaru's support and tries to find solidity in the ground beneath her feet.

Gone? _Gone_? Gone where? How? Why?

No. That last one, she won't ask. The sound of a distant battle carries over the trees, and she knows the answer, or at least the part that's important. Sakura isn't gone – she refuses to believe it. The turbulent emotions riding beneath a thick layer of denial are so huge and real that she can't allow herself to feel them, can't find the strength to question the enormity of them. Not yet. Right now, they need to focus on what brought them here in the first place. The "why."

"We'll get Sasuke," Ino says firmly, ignoring Shikamaru's dubious look. "And then we'll go home and sort this out."

Shikamaru isn't the only worried one, though. Lee steps forward. "Both you and Sakura's injuries are serious. Would it not be wiser for the two of you to head back?"

"I am _not_ going until we have that idiot with us." Ino's tone leaves no room for argument. Nobody tries.

Instead, they all head in the direction of Naruto and Sasuke's battle, their formation scattered and thoughtless with all of their enemies subdued. Their pace feels painfully slow. The chakra exhaustion and injuries amongst the group make travel difficult, and they carry on in near silence. At the front of the pack, Sakura supports herself on the tree trunks as they step over the tangled roots, her body screaming at her to stop. The wound in her side pulls with each step. Her arm throbs like it's caught between the heavy doors of the Hokage's Tower.

On her right, Ino silently suffers from one similar kind of inner turmoil and one completely separate one. The scariest part about her coughing up blood and wheezing is that there is no accompanying pain. Besides the various bruises and scratches littering her skin, nothing hurts, which is far more worrisome. At least if she were in pain she might be able to pinpoint the problem.

Other than the knowledge that she may or may not be dying, Ino is grinding her teeth for an entirely different reason.

Sasuke.

She's going to kill him.

Never in her life would she have thought she could feel this way about the boy. She'd been in self-proclaimed love with him for almost as long as she can remember, and though she'd never fooled herself into thinking that "love" amounted to anything more than adoration and attraction, she felt certain it at least made him immune to her hatred. But not so, apparently. The thought of his smug smiles and his cool indifference infuriates her now. Not to mention the way he'd brushed Sakura off when the matches were assigned for the final round of the Chunin Exams, how he'd apparently called her useless when their teams had been assigned, how he ran off and made them risk their lives in his shortsightedness – twice… And it's not like Ino is oblivious. She's always known Sasuke is a jerk. She'd just accepted that as part of the "bad boy" package, but now, the qualities she once found attractive, she wants to physically pound out of his thick skull.

Now, in fact, Ino wonders why she ever liked him in the first place, why anyone does, why they're even here on this damn mission, because if it hadn't been for Sasuke and his selfishness, they wouldn't have had to fight all those overpowered sound-nin. If it hadn't been for Sasuke, she wouldn't be bleeding to death internally, and if it hadn't been for Sasuke, Sakura would still be here, intact, and if she's not, if she's gone –

Then what?

Ino doesn't want to think about it and simultaneously can't stop.

Almost as if in aversion to the living reminder of the situation, she blinks the tears away and notices she's strayed from Sakura's side and let herself fall behind to the back of the group. It occurs to her that Sakura likely noticed her lagging behind and hadn't said a word about it. If Ino knows her at all, she can only guess the shame kept her from mentioning it – perhaps she figured she didn't deserve Ino's company. Survivor's guilt on a whole other level.

 _But she's not dead_ , Ino reminds herself vehemently. _She can't be._

Shikamaru puts a hand on her shoulder as gently as if the weight of it might break her. "She'll be alright," he mumbles quietly, noticing her ragged breathing and her clenched jaw and her white-knuckled fists.

Ino wants to answer, but she can't find the words. He doesn't know if she'll be alright, and neither does she, and the truth is that there's a very real chance that she might _not_ be alright – not at all. If there's something wrong with Sakura's brain, _maybe_ Tsunade can fix it. Maybe. If there's something wrong with her _mind_ … they may as well be rolling dice.

And it's worse, somehow, that there is no body to carry, no hand to hold, no feverish forehead or sweaty brow to wipe. Sakura's body is walking along ahead of her, directly in her sight, and it's a _lie_ , because Sakura isn't there. Not all of her. And if she isn't there, and if she never will be again, then what? Every day Ino will have to see her body carrying on, living life only partly whole, and Ino will still be her friend – of course – but she'll look and always see only in halves. Fragments. The absence of one will be made exponentially more painful by the presence of the other.

Ino takes a deep, shuddering breath and disregards Shikamaru and Choji's continuously worried looks. They _should_ be worried. _All of them_ should be worried. All of them should be _panicking_ like the sky has cracked open and revealed the emptiness behind it. They should be battling hysteria just like she is, and how are they not? It's absurd, all of it, them, this situation, _everything_. That they can be so calm, and that she can't remember how to be; even though, she tries to remind herself, she's lived the vast majority of her life without Sakura. Her life had moved without her. Ino had lived and loved and laughed without her.

So why is it so hard to imagine that now?

She remembers the conversation with Shikamaru, the conclusion he'd come to, and promptly shoves it away. Now is not the time. Not when there might be only half a person to feel that way about.

"Ino –"

"I'm fine," she snaps. The tears say otherwise, but they stop asking.

From up ahead, Sakura catches her eye and quickly turns away. The guilt on her face dulls only increases Ino's frustration. She wants to say it's not her fault, but if she opens her mouth, she doesn't know what will escape it. She wisely keeps it closed.

The sounds of fighting stop just as they clear the last of the increasingly sparse trees. Sakura, still heading the group, emerges from the forest first. She scans the considerable damage of the landscape and wonders what the hell happened. The cliffs are decimated. The ground is charred and blackened. Even the flow of the water in the immense waterfall is disrupted.

What catches her eye, though, is at the bottom of the cliff, deep in the ravine. Two figures. One on the ground, eyes closed, breathing. Maybe. The other standing over him, obviously exhausted – too exhausted to run, she hopes.

Sasuke.

She wants to scream his name and jump down there to throttle him, but she only manages to do half of each. His name passes her lips in something of a whimper, and her descent of the cliff face is part leap, part climb, and a whole lot of falling.

Sasuke looks up and blinks slowly as if expecting her to fade from his vision like a hallucination. No such luck for him. Sakura uses the last of her chakra to cross the river and is pleased to see him back away from her, his eyes wide in concern at the obvious fury on her features and his own lack of chakra to retaliate. His back hits the wall of rock behind him. Sakura glances only briefly at Naruto – still breathing, thankfully – before returning her attention to her other teammate.

"Sasuke," she growls his name. The words bunch at her throat and the two of them are stuck, silent and staring at each other. His gaze lands someplace over her shoulder. Sakura hears the descent of the rest of the team into the gorge, half-a-dozen footfalls that stop a few yards behind her. The look on Sasuke's face is telling. He's surprised, baffled, angry.

Relieved.

( _Idiot! He never really wanted to leave. If he'd just talked to us…_ ) Sakura thinks venomously. Of course he'd known the risk he took in seeking out Orochimaru, maybe even of the sannin's plans to steal his body, and of course he'd been worried about it. The idiot probably thought he'd get strong enough to save himself. And maybe he would have. ...Or maybe she would have one day looked into his eyes and found the slitted eyes of a snake. She wants to punch him almost as much as she wants to hug him, so she does both.

He doesn't fight her when her fist connects weakly with his cheek, or when she wraps her arms around his shoulders. Honestly, they're both surprised by how much she cares, but Sakura doesn't allow herself to doubt it. He's part of her team, her first companions – even before Ino, even before they'd gotten along, and even if it'd been required, Naruto and Sasuke both were the first people to acknowledge her existence with anything more than contempt or malice, no matter how unhealthy their relationships, or how much (or little) they actually like each other. Their bonds will always be special in a way that defies logic – and her better judgment. It's fitting, she thinks not for the first time, that their friendship is just as nonsensical and unstable as their personalities, but it is what it is.

They're her friends, even if Sasuke will never admit it, and even if Naruto is terrible at teamwork, and even despite how often she wants to kick both of their asses.

Sakura pulls back and studies Sasuke's face. He doesn't bother fighting – not even he's arrogant enough to think he can get away from this many pursuers, and certainly not after fighting Naruto. She catches a glimpse of the headband clutched in his fist.

"We'll have to get you a new one," she mutters, and at least he has the sense to look embarrassed.

But he _is_ still Sasuke, after all. Still stubborn, hot-headed, single-minded Sasuke. "You should have let me leave."

Ah, what had she just been gushing about before? Doesn't matter. _Now_ she's going to kill him.

To both her and Sasuke's surprise, however, Sakura feels herself being shoved gently out of the way, and Sasuke finds his face on the receiving end of another punch. Stunned, he raises a hand to his cheek only for Ino to slap him across the other one. He's too shocked to do anything but stare.

"You're an idiot," Ino seethes. She looks murderous to the point that Sakura almost wonders if she should step between them, but she wisely decides she doesn't want to be on the receiving end of Ino's wrath either. "Do you have _any_ idea what you've done?"

"I –"

"The answer is no!" She interrupts him. When she opens her mouth to continue, however, another round of coughing seizes her, worse than the last. Ino hacks and sputters so hard that she collapses to hands and knees, vomiting on the ground right at Uchiha Sasuke's feet.

Less than a year ago, she would've rather died.

How the times have changed.

Sasuke's eyes widen marginally at the sight of the blood laced in her vomit and dripping down her chin. His image of her has always been of an egotistical and somewhat shallow girl, or flippant at the very least. Not one who'd fight to the point of mortal injury and then lecture him about it. Despite all the things he's seen today, the sight of her hacking up blood and screaming at him is somehow one of the most jarring. Ino braces herself against the cliff face to stand and gives him a withering look. "I don't expect you to give a shit about how we've all risked our lives to drag your ass back home, or how I may or may not be dying, or even that half of Sakura might be permanently _gone_ – "

Sasuke's brow furrows. "What?"

"Don't pretend that you care!" Ino hisses. "It's because of _your_ selfishness that this happened, and you might be an idiot, Sasuke, but you're not _stupid_. You had to have known that people would be sent after you – that your teammates would come and potentially _die_ trying to fix your mistakes – and for what reason?" She punctuates the question with a hard shove, and finally, he begins to look annoyed. Sasuke opens his mouth to retort, but Ino cuts him off again. "I'll give you a hint, Sasuke – you don't have one. I don't know exactly why you think you need Orochimaru's help, but take a look around you." She makes a sweeping gesture at their ragtag team and the limp form of Naruto at their feet. "Individually, you might be able to beat any one of us, but any _pair_ of us could take you down. If Sakura had been here too, do you think you would've won against Naruto?"

Sasuke clenches his teeth in answer.

Ino's glare only intensifies at the silent admission. "That's what I thought. It's not just your village you're abandoning, Sasuke – you're leaving behind an entire army. Orochimaru could never make you stronger than that. That's why his invasion failed, that's why every single one of us, despite the difference in strength, were able to defeat his subordinates, and that's why we're able to stop _you_. If you're trying to get stronger, you should work on strengthening your _teamwork_ , not just yourself. Not to mention," Ino adds, turning her palms up in a "duh" motion, "if you want to train with a sannin, you have two that are available and _not_ traitors, you know."

At last, she pulls away from her position pinning him to the cliff. Sasuke immediately goes to cross his arms in a defensive posture, his eyes averted to the susurrating river and the roaring falls in the distance. Nobody speaks. The sound of the water alleviates the tension somewhat. After a solid minute, Sasuke's gaze finally lands on Ino's blood on the ground, Sakura's bloodied vest, the anxious faces of their comrades, and then on Naruto.

Ino is right, of course. Sasuke is an idiot, but he's not stupid. Physically and theoretically, this is a fight he's lost. (It helps, too, that he _did_ manage to beat Naruto on his own. That piece of pride will carry him for a little while, at least.)

He mumbles something inaudible. Ino raises an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"I said," Sasuke snaps, clears his throat. "I said... I'm sorry."

Again, nobody responds, but Sakura knows that embarrassing him will only crack his resolve, not reinforce it, so she puts her hand on his shoulder and tries to smile even with the world blurring at the edges.

"I forgive you," she says firmly. "I'm just glad that you're coming back home, and I'm sure Naruto feels the same way. And so will Sakura," she adds, "when she… gets back. What do you say, guys?" Sakura manages to grin at the group, but underneath is a clear warning that she hopes she's effectively communicating. If they make him feel any worse for what he's done, a repeat incident will be inevitable. "No harm, no foul, huh?"

Shikamaru shakes his head tiredly. There's hardly 'no harm' here, but he knows better than to push the point. "I wouldn't go that far, but you're right. I'm just glad this is over. And for the record, I forgive you too, Sasuke. Just don't do it again."

Less emotional damage means less trouble, after all…

"If Sakura accepts your apology," Lee adds, "then so will I."

"And if Shikamaru does…"

"It's easy to be myopic when thinking only of oneself," Neji shrugs.

"Yeah, yeah, all this mushy stuff," Kiba shudders. "Let's just get back home and forget about all this, alright?"

There's a murmur of agreement throughout the group, but Sakura and Sasuke are both watching Ino. Her arms are crossed. She hasn't stopped glaring at Sasuke through the whole round of acceptances, and really, it's a testament to the changing world that, for the first time, he's the one too abashed to meet her eyes.

Ino pivots on her heel to rejoin the group. Her long ponytail swings out behind her with a dramatic flourish that's somehow dignified despite the blood and vomit. "When I hear from Sakura that she's forgiven you," she sniffs, "then so will I."

Sasuke merely nods.

And then, exhausted, injured, tired, supporting each other on half-conscious bodies and trembling legs and quivering muscles, they make their way home.

* * *

#

 _ **A/N** : Woohoo! Arc finished! On a sidenote about the sand siblings' absence: as one reviewer pointed out, their showing up doesn't really make a whole lot of sense for a number of reasons. The idea of them being able to make that journey and catch up to Shikamaru & Co. within the timespan of this arc in the original series is already questionable. In my timeline, with the whole of it shortened somewhat, it's even less realistic. Then there's the added difference of there not being a need for Lee and Gaara to reconcile, thereby eliminating what had already been a somewhat flat character interaction. Hence, no sand siblings. Which is sad, really, because Gaara is such a cutie pie..._

 _As for Sasuke?! What a little prick. But! I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that at this point in the series he's still (a) somewhat sane, (b) somewhat emotionally coherent, at least enough to admit that Naruto is his friend, and (c) realistically, there's no way he could take down the whole group. Even if (a) and (b) are questionable, I think he'd be forced to cut his losses and suck it up anyway. Or else they'd really just break his legs and take him home..._

 _Anyway! Drop me a review if you have the time! Feedback is much appreciated. :)_


	21. Apperception

**A/N : **Woohoo! I managed not to take a month to update, haha. Here we go, the start of the last arc of this fic. We've got two more chapters plus an epilogue after this. I may begin the process of editing the earlier chapters for some sloppy syntax and typos you all have pointed out as well. (Thank you, my attentive readers!) Happy reading, and thanks to everyone as usual! :)

* * *

Chapter 20

"Apperception"

...

It turns out that the coughing and vomiting blood isn't as serious as Ino thought. Or, rather, now that it's _treated_ it's not that serious. Ukon managed to necrotize a good bit of tissue in her lungs and stomach, but thankfully not to the point of permanent injury. Under the guidance of Tsunade, the medic-nin at the hospital patched her up in only a day. She spent the following twenty-four hours on bed rest and left with only superficial cuts and bruises remaining.

Most of the team's check ups went similarly. Besides Sakura, nobody suffered any substantial injuries – truly a testament to her and Shikamaru's tactical abilities. All of theirs, really. Tsunade even pulled Shikamaru aside to ask him about potential field promotions for some of their team, though Ino isn't going to get her hopes up about it. She's got bigger things to worry about.

Sasuke is, thankfully, no longer going to be one of those worries. He's officially cowed, and in any case, he's been put under ANBU surveillance. Not that Naruto will ever let him out of his sight ever again anyway, but the added assurance is nice.

The biggest worry of all is Sakura. The injury to her side had been a narrow miss – an inch toward the middle of her torso would have perforated her intestine. The chances of her making it back with full-blown sepsis would've been slim to none, but luck had been on her side, it seems. Her arm has mostly recovered but is spending some time getting acquainted with a sling. Tsunade wisely delayed her training until she's fully recovered.

 _If_ she fully recovers.

After numerous brain scans ending with the diagnosis of a concussion, it seems that Sakura's (half) disappearance can't be chalked up to any physical injury. Neither Inner Sakura, nor Ino, nor Tsunade had been sure if that was good news or not. Inner Sakura certainly hadn't seemed to think so. Bedridden in the hospital for a mandatory two days due to her head injury, she passes the time trying to distract herself from the aching void in her skull. Books. Games. She kills a few hours changing the viscosities of the water in her glass.

None of it really helps.

Thankfully, now that Ino's officially off bed rest, she offers her assistance. She's annoyed to find Sakura hesitant to accept it. "You don't understand," Sakura sighs wearily, running the edges of the thin hospital sheets through her fingers. "Our head's not easy to navigate."

Ino finds that explanation utterly unsatisfying. "I think you're the one that doesn't understand. You're underestimating my abilities."

"I'm not saying that you _can't_ do it. I'm just saying that Sakura's mind – our mind – is more complicated than we originally thought."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that."

Sakura frowns at the bedspread. It's not like she doesn't want Ino's help. The vacuum that the other Sakura left behind is a constant, self-reminding pain, itching and aching and completely unignorable. Inner Sakura is not well equipped to be alone in her own head. All the fears, the pains, the hopes and dreams and emotions that her other self distilled and condensed into who Inner Sakura is – they roil the blood in her head like a tide without the moon to guide them. It leaves her restless and distraught and, honestly, scared. She'd do nearly anything to get the other half of her back.

Except, apparently, risk Ino's mind in the process. That would just be an insult to her other half's sensibilities – and her own.

"Look," she sighs again, "if I'm remembering what you've told me correctly, then you have to be able to find your way back to your own head when you dispel the Mind Transfer technique, right?"

"Right…"

"So, what happens if you go inside a mind, inside a mind, and then maybe inside another mind?"

Ino stares at her blankly. "That sounds like the premise for an impressively overwrought movie plot."

"Yeah," Sakura scoffs, "well, it is what it is. When Sakura and I were fighting Kimimaro, we found a way to make our switching faster by riding the line of our consciousness together. But as soon as we settled in, so to speak, we realized that we'd been able to keep thoughts from each other, both purposely and unintentionally."

That gives Ino pause. "So, there's multiple sub-conscious minds... which means you each have minds of your own," she clarifies, "further split into forefront and background, and from there..." _I can see how this would get risky really quickly..._

"It looks that way," Sakura mutters, shifting agitatedly in the cot. "And there's no telling what else is in there. She's always been really sensitive, you know? More than most people. She just learned to beat it all down, so her life, she really – her mind is – it's –"

"Fractured."

Sakura flexes her jaw, her fingers in the sheets, then sighs once more. "Yeah."

Ino's answer is instant. "I don't care."

"I – what?"

"I don't care," Ino repeats blandly. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. I made a promise, remember?"

It feels like ages ago since that day at the flower shop, but she hasn't forgotten what she'd said.

'… _if something goes wrong, I'll be here to help you out… I promise.'_

She isn't going to back down on this one. Ever since she found out about Sakura's disappearance, Ino's inner balance has been left in absolute pandemonium, disrupted by layers of emotions stuck together like a brick of wet tissues that she can't yet separate and decipher – the rage at Sasuke, the pain like a shard of glass in her gut, the anxious "what if" questions – but there is one important, undeniable commonality in all of them.

And Ino can take care of herself. She isn't fragile, and there is no tragedy in her life, as far as she can imagine, that she wouldn't recover from. People do, after all – Kakashi and Tsunade are good examples of that. Death is inevitable. It's the inescapable risk of living, and loving, and existing, and if Sakura were never to return, Ino knows she would carry on.

But she doesn't _want_ to.

Even though she hasn't yet let herself think about what that means, that a life without Sakura's friendship would be a life so drastically reduced in quality, the conclusion is solid. She'll do whatever it takes. "I don't want to expand your ego and widen that already huge forehead of yours," Ino taunts, interrupting Sakura before she can retort, "but even though we haven't been friends for very long, I feel like I've known you both my whole life. I'm not about to let that go."

Her tone becomes serious by the end of the statement. There's a beat of silence as expressions flash across Sakura's face quicker than a strobe light – pride, happiness, doubt – and then she rolls her eyes, but the smile is there all the same. "As if flattery from _you_ could ever mean so much to me. But fine," she sighs, sounding very put upon, "I won't argue with you anymore. As long as you know the risks you're taking."

"It's a bigger risk to let you wander around without your other half to reign in your personality, if you ask me."

Sakura grins. "You might be right about that."

Ino shakes her head, imagining all the outbursts and declarations and fights this Sakura might find herself in. She settles herself into the rather uncomfortable hospital chair, preparing to leave her body behind, and scoots toward the rumpled hospital bed in case she slumps too far forward. Then, without further ado, Ino holds her hands up in her clan's signature seal.

#

She finds Sakura's mindscape vastly changed from the last time she "visited" during the preliminaries. Like most people, Sakura hadn't created a visualization of the inside of her head yet, not having needed to; now, however, with their minds linked, Ino allows Inner Sakura to form the imagery. It's really rather stunning: a field of tall grass and plentiful wildflowers, tulips and daffodils and a dozen other species, the spaces between threaded with patches of clover. In the distance, she hears the sound of a brook, probably hidden in the ravine in the rocky area to her left. There's a house, too, which she supposes makes sense, considering that Sakura's inner personality spends most of her time in here. Her eyes land on the gate and she raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah. I told Sakura – I'm not very good with creativity."

Ino turns to find Sakura at her side, then looks back at the gate, then double takes back to Sakura.

Short-haired, busty, red catsuit clad Sakura.

"Could've fooled me," Ino mumbles, her eyes drifting amusedly to the other girl's ample bosom and defined curves. She's not sure why she's surprised. It suits her, really.

"Pictures last longer," Sakura chides playfully, and Ino sputters briefly before determinedly turning away to face the house.

"As if. Anyway," Ino carries on smoothly, "what's in the house?"

"Normal stuff. Furniture, a kitchen, TV, books. You know."

"How can you possibly watch TV, or read, or eat inside your own head?"

Sakura taps her temple. "Photographic memory, remember? It only sucks because it's all reruns, but, you know, I'll take what I can get."

"Huh." Ino hadn't thought of that. It must be nice to be able to relive experiences like that. Or hellish, now that she thinks about it… "So, can I go in there?" She asks, though she's already striding toward the house with Sakura at her side.

"Yeah, but now that I think about it, isn't going through our heads kind of an invasion of privacy?"

"Keeping secrets, are we?"

Sakura rolls her eyes. "Who doesn't? It's not like _I_ care, but Sakura…"

"I'll try not to pry," Ino offers, but she's already touching the walls of the house and inspecting its contents.

It's a modern looking home of wood and glass. The former is a rich oak color, the boards lined and knotted just as they would be in the physical world. Long windows line the walls, half-obscured by the soft heavy cotton of earth-toned drapes. Ino runs her hand along the television set and finds it's cold, smooth plastic. The doors creak, the books smell like old paper, there are dirty pans in the kitchen sink. She picks out the Shinobi Handbook off the top shelf of a lacquered bookcase and flips through it, her memory jogging at each rule. They're all in order and word-for-word.

"This is amazing," she mumbles, her fingers tracing over the spines. She pauses at a shelf filled with rather _questionable_ reading material, but true to her word, she doesn't comment. Not that she could overlook the easily distinguishable orange jackets of the entire _Icha Icha_ series even if she tried. Or, _Lovers at Dawn: The Chronicles of Kentaro and Souda_. Obviously yaoi.

Interesting…

Ino stores that information away for later. "I guess I should look around for Sakura. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"No, but honestly, I haven't looked that hard. Normally I just _know_ where she is – I thought that since I couldn't feel her, she wouldn't be here."

"I doubt that." Ino re-shelves the Shinobi Handbook and wanders up the stairs, inspecting the bedroom. "Since there's no physical damage to your brain that would cause this kind of thing, that means she can't _really_ be gone. Not without a trace, anyway. The fact that she's undetectable, in my opinion, means that she _must_ still be here."

Sakura stops abruptly in the doorway, comprehension dawning. "You mean she's hiding."

"Exactly. Her first instinct has always been to hide when she feels negative emotions, right? I can only imagine that, fighting for her life and sure she was about to die, the fear must've caused her to hide so far back in her mind that she can't find a way out. Or," Ino thinks aloud, opening drawers and then shutting one in particular rather quickly, "she might've just forgotten that she's hiding in the first place."

"I think I get it," Sakura replies thoughtfully, watching Ino poke through her things. "Like keeping something in a secret place for safekeeping and losing it in the process."

"Right." Ino bends to peek underneath the bed only to be stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Sakura says solemnly.

Ino drops the bedskirt and backs away.

The house now thoroughly inspected, she retreats down the stairs with Sakura following closely behind. They exit the house and scan the flower field in hopes of spotting something they might have missed. As far as Ino can tell, however, it's just a normal field – barring, of course, that it's in someone's head and all.

"Do you think she's hiding in _your_ head?" Ino wonders aloud, glancing wearily at the well-endowed visage of her friend.

"I have no idea."

"Maybe I should try?"

"I don't know," Sakura smiles mysteriously. "If you go in there, you might never want to leave."

"And why's that?"

"Because, I – " She pauses abruptly, her hands on her hips in a cocky posture for a moment longer before they drop to her sides. "Ah, nevermind."

"What? What is it?"

"Nothing. But, uh, I doubt she's in there," Sakura admits. "It doesn't seem like a place she would go."

"No. I guess it doesn't, but where…"

Ino strolls through the flowers, admiring the range and depths of color. The details are remarkable. A long staircase spirals down the cliff face to the west, leading to the river below. She peeks over the edge and spots nothing obviously anomalous. Deciding she'd have a better chance elsewhere, she leads Sakura to the edges of the mindscape. Wilder and more unruly looking plants sprout from the ground as they near the border, vines and bushes and brambles that they have to step through carefully. Some of them are even thorned.

"Is it always the same time of day here?" Ino asks curiously. It's the first time she's seen someone with such a developed mindscape outside of her own clan. Even then, Sakura's memory for detail is decidedly more impressive.

"Nah. I change it when I feel like it, basically. Usually it matches the time outside."

"And the plants – do they grow?"

"Nope. Sometimes Sakura and I add new ones, though."

Ino nods and continues her trek in silence, trying to imagine where Sakura might be hiding. Not in the house, evidently, and not in the ravine. The flowers and the grass in the field aren't tall enough to obscure a human form – assuming that she even has one of those, Ino realizes. If Sakura _really_ wanted to do it, she could simply reimagine herself as a blade of grass. One's form in a mindscape can be anything imaginable, as proven by the other Sakura.

It's a disheartening idea. An equally troubling one is that she may simply be hiding in plain sight, invisible and not wanting to be seen – or, worse yet, evaporated into nothing. If anyone could belittle herself into literally disappearing, it would be Sakura. For both their sakes, Ino does not share these thoughts.

In the end, she's glad she didn't. Tall trees edge the outermost perimeter of the mindscape, the same gigantic, ancient kinds that grow in Konoha's verdant forests, all of which are thick and lush and well-nourished – all except one. Ino stops before the spindly branches of the incongruous tree, its offshoots heavy with reddish-purple leaves and small white flowers. It's foreign, usually native to Kimo, but it can be found in at least one place in Konoha. She understands immediately where Sakura has gone. "She's at the park."

"What park?" Inner Sakura touches the tree and finds it as solid as all the others.

"The park she used to hide in after school. You said that you're both able to keep thoughts from each other, right?"

"Yeah…"

"My guess is that she's retreated into a private world," Ino explains. "One that she so heavily associates with fear and solace that not even you can see it."

Sakura looks around at the forest, confused. "And where would that be?"

"Right here." Ino closes her eyes and presses her palm flat against the trunk of the odd tree. After a long moment of concentration, her fingers sink into the bark as if it were made of memory foam, much to Sakura's amazement. She stays like that for a minute longer before withdrawing her hand. "It's a different part of her mind, like you said." Ino wriggles her fingers as if to shake off the odd feeling of being between spaces. "A shard of the fracture, and one of many, if I had to guess."

Sakura replies anxiously, "How many?"

"I don't know."

Ino frowns at the tree, staring at it's shallowly ridged bark and the old, scarred carvings left behind from kids at the park. It's a perfect replica. There's no telling how many more holes to hide in Sakura has dug. With a mind and memory like hers, she could make many, many worlds, and that sort of detail isn't trivial to sort through. Ino got lucky with this tree – it's an obvious one to her as a botanist – but any other fragments could be much harder to spot. She doesn't know enough about Sakura or about her life to confidently pinpoint all of the possibilities. Sakura almost never talks about herself, after all, her pains and her fears and her past.

Not to mention that her most valued skill, and her most practiced reflex, is _hiding_.

She could be anywhere and anything she can imagine – and if this world is any indication, that means anywhere or anything that she's _ever_ _seen._ This could take days. Weeks. Maybe longer. And the more time Ino spends here, the higher the risk of being unable to disentangle herself from the impressive depths of this consciousness when it's time to leave. _I_ _f_ she can even find her way back.

"So, I know you're dead set on doing this," Sakura seems to be having similar thoughts, "but is there some way I could go with you, maybe, and help you find your way?"

Ino shakes her head. "Not this time. If she's trying to hide, then you won't be able to pass through the barriers she put up. I can only do it because I've been practicing since I was a child."

"But I crossed into your body once…"

"The Mind Transfer technique actually leaves itself open to that," Ino explains. "It's like a two-way road. My uncle uses it to swap places with people for reconnaissance. This time, it's more like swimming upstream. It takes a lot of practice to develop the right type of strength."

Sakura nods, taking her word for it. She is the expert, after all, but as Ino experimentally pushes her hand through the trunk of the tree, disappearing up to her elbow, Sakura opens her mouth to say something. Ino pauses, waiting. A breeze ghosts across her fingertips from the other side of the tree. Sakura takes a step toward her, then stops, then opens her mouth, then closes it, speaking uncertainly, "Eh, nevermind…"

"What?"

"It's nothing."

Ino raises an eyebrow. "You sure?"

Sakura scowls, though it looks less directed at Ino than elsewhere. "Let's just say that I'm trying to be… respectful of Sakura's privacy. But, I – well, you – I'm not… ugh. Fuck it."

She at last makes a decision and pulls Ino out of the tree and into her chest in a surprisingly gentle hug. A little baffled, Ino reciprocates the gesture and waits patiently for her to speak.

Sakura's hold tightens. "You have to come back."

"Duh," Ino replies immediately. "Besides, I'm _Yamanaka Ino_. You're not going to get rid of me that easily."

"I know, I know, you're too pig-headed for that, but…"

Sakura pulls back slightly, just enough so they can see each other. They're only a few inches apart and Ino feels the proximity acutely, tension coiling in her gut, and she thinks that she should step away or maybe step back into the hug to alleviate it, but she can't make up her mind, so she just stands still. Sakura studies her face for a long moment. Then, to Ino's bewilderment, Sakura's eyes roll up to the sky as she shakes her fist at it, as if angry with some deity or other.

"Damnit, Sakura! Ruining my opportunities! We're going to have to talk about this when you get back!"

"…What?"

Sakura sighs and pulls her back into the embrace. "Nothing, nothing. Just be careful, alright? I hope I'm not breaking her trust by saying so, but I know that Sakura would rather die than lose you. Just keep that in mind."

It's sort of a lot to keep in mind, Ino wants to say, tensing at the admission. It shouldn't be surprising considering the way Sakura thinks of her, but hearing it aloud makes it far too real: there is the chance that one or both of them might not come back. And if it came down to a choice like that…

"I will," she promises, though she isn't sure what or to whom, exactly.

"Good. And for me too, okay?" Sakura mumbles, at last drawing back from the hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ah, such praise. Part of Ino preens at the admiration and the compliment, and some other part, she's surprised to find, is wholly flustered. "I understand," she says, because she can't think of anything else to say. Shikamaru's words float around in her head like little ringing alarm bells, but now is not the time to be questioning herself.

"No, I mean _literally_ ," Sakura clarifies, noticing the sudden increase in gravitas, "I wouldn't know what to do without you. Like, on a day-to-day basis, I have no idea how to function alone. I'd be super confused."

"Oh." Right. "I'll be careful," Ino chuckles, laughing at both the thought of Sakura trying to figure out how to occupy herself and her own misunderstanding of the meaning behind her words. How silly of her.

"Good! Because I love you."

"Gah – wha – do –"

"Good luck!" Sakura grins, and then she promptly shoves Ino through the tree.

If she says "I" then it's fine, right…?

In any case, Ino is gone in an instant, far too quickly to actually ask the important question of, _"What the hell does that mean?!"_

#

When she lands on the other side of the mindscape, Ino finds herself staring at the sky once more. There's a gentle breeze, the one she'd felt on her fingertips earlier, caressing her face and raising goosebumps across her skin. The next thing she notices is the noise. People. Cart pushers, vendors, merchants – the usual hustle and bustle of her hometown. And, sitting up and finding herself in the middle of the busy Konoha market district, that's exactly where she is.

It looks the same, for the most part. There's the butcher shop on her left, then Aoi-san's clothes boutique, some vaguely familiar looking people running food stands. Only one thing jumps out at her: a casual patisserie that hadn't caught on and subsequently closed down around the time Ino turned ten-years-old. So she must be in the past. Sakura's recollection of it, anyway. She sits up, brushes the dirt off her skirt, and tries to come up with a plan. If the world is built the same, and the tree led her here, then surely the first place she should check for Sakura is the park.

Ino makes her way through the streets, weaving through the human traffic and entirely unsure of her situation. This is still Sakura's head – it must be – but the vivid detail astounds her as much as it had in the primary mindscape. Even the scent of the food is accurate. The people, too, talk and greet each other as normal people would do, and she's surprised to nearly run into someone only for them to turn and bow politely.

"Excuse me," the woman mumbles sheepishly before turning and hurrying away.

It's like Sakura's own little universe, obviously built on her photographic memory and with some extra brain power devoted to filling in the things that she couldn't possibly have seen or overheard – like all these people's conversations – which means that it can't, in fact, be a _true_ memory.

Which means Ino has no idea what this is. It's a realization that makes her understandably nervous. She's never had to use the Mind Transfer to dig this far into someone's brain, let alone someone whose mind is as fragmented as Sakura's. Normally, she sits at the forefront of consciousness to control the body, or, like her father taught her, she'd break into visualized lockboxes or read through scrolls to gain information.

But traversing whole worlds? _I've never even heard of something like this…_

Maybe it makes sense, she thinks as she meanders through the park, literally stopping to smell the roses and not disappointed by their scent. Being alone as long as she was, Sakura had a great deal of time to simply observe and imagine things. Years spent conjuring images, scenarios, people and places… it follows, Ino supposes, that her mind would reflect that. It's sort of funny to think that she and Sakura both devoted huge chunks of their childhoods to fostering mental abilities, even if Sakura's had been largely a matter of circumstance and coincidence rather than training.

She'll have to commend her for that when she finds her, but unfortunately, Sakura is not in the park as she'd suspected.

"Where next…?" Ino mumbles aloud, ignoring the odd look she receives from an afternoon jogger. No need to impress people that aren't real, after all.

 _Where else would Sakura spend her time as a child?_ Without any leads to follow, Ino heads for the academy and pauses to watch the children there, smiling at their happy-go-lucky attitudes. She even catches a miniature Kiba, about six-years-old, playing with Akamaru on the slides. But Sakura isn't there amongst their class. The next logical place to check would be her house, but Ino is a little embarrassed to remember that she doesn't actually know where Sakura lives.

She checks her surroundings. Would one of these villagers know…? It wouldn't make sense, logically, for them to have that information, but then, they _are_ in Sakura's head…

"Excuse me," Ino taps one of the vendors on the shoulder, a middle-aged man selling sweets. "Do you happen to know who Haruno Sakura is?"

He smiles widely. "Of course I do."

"Do you know where I can find her?"

His expression falters slightly, brow creasing, before giving way to laughter. "Where have _you_ been? She's in the Hokage's Tower, where she usually is."

"Oh. Uh, thank you…"

 _That's strange. I think. But apparently not…?_

Ino turns and treks the short distance between the market and the Hokage's Tower. She finds it's as she'd left it back home: dead center of the village, the same emblems and red-painted wood. Inside, she finds the same carpet, the same set of stairs, the same offices and windows…

But something is different.

The building is full of people. It's not like the Sandaime didn't have a penchant for being friendly with everyone in the village, but all those people hadn't necessarily made a habit of hanging out in this building, either. And yet, every room is full. It's like a big party, she thinks, hearing the loud, mirthful laughter through every closed door. Peeking into some of the rooms, she decides that it _must_ be a party, or something like it. The counters and tables are adorned with sweets. Colorful balloons have been tied to every chair.

There isn't a single person without a smile on his or her face, and Ino realizes suddenly that statement held true for every person she'd come across. The vendors, the guards, the shinobi, every single child at the Academy – they all seemed to be having a splendid time. And it's not like this period in Konoha hadn't been full of joy and peace, but _every single person_ …? Beginning to understand exactly where she is, Ino is only half surprised to knock on the Hokage's door and be told to enter by someone who is certainly not the Sandaime. The voice is a child's.

Sakura's.

Ino steps inside and resists the urge to squeal. It's hard, though. The image of six-year-old Sakura in child-sized kage robes, her little hand fisted around a feathered quill with a stack of papers on her desk, is too damn adorable. It also confirms her suspicion: she's in a fantasy.

"Hello!" Sakura greets her cheerily and without the usual formality of a kage. "Can I help you with something?"

 _Oh man_ , Ino bites her tongue to quell her snickering. _This is too cute_.

Despite how incredibly endearing it is, though, Ino doesn't miss the two standard ANBU guards flanking Sakura at her desk. She finds it fitting that Sakura wouldn't miss the necessary security, even in a fantasy.

"Hokage-sama," Ino bows and takes another moment to collect herself. It's hard not to laugh… "I am here to…"

What?

If she explained the situation to this version of her friend, would she suddenly remember and agree to come home? This Sakura certainly seems heavily involved in the fantasy, and child-sized Hokage Sakura _is_ cute, but if she thought Ino was a threat, she'd have the ANBU at her side and every villager to use at her disposal to vanquish that threat. And dying in Sakura's head isn't part of the plan. Dying here would mean being unable to return to her body, if she couldn't get out quickly enough, and that's hardly a risk worth taking.

Perhaps it's best to play along.

"Request your presence," Ino finishes after a moment. "In the park."

"Oh. Why?"

Good question.

"I... am from out of town," Ino covers her hesitation quickly, subtly placing her hand over her hip – right over her forehead protector. "And I was wondering if you could give me a tour. I heard the park is beautiful this time of year."

It's not exactly a great lie, but this Sakura _is_ six-years-old. Sure enough, her quizzical expression quickly morphs into a smile. "Sure! I could use a break from paperwork anyway," she agrees cheerily and stands to join Ino at the door. Her head barely clears the desk at her height.

Slyly, Ino sneaks a glimpse of said paperwork and has to bite her tongue yet again to keep from laughing. Sakura's concept of official documents is as one might expect from a child. There are a lot of papers stamped with the words, "Important," and "Super Important," without a whole lot of anything else on them. Some notes are scrawled in the margins in colorful markers. Most adorably of all, Sakura thoughtlessly reaches for her hand on the way out. Hokage or not, apparently she's still fully aware of the fact that Ino is older than her, and, subsequently, that it's necessary for them to hold hands as they walk through the streets.

 _Too cute… can't take it…_

"This is Konoha," Sakura speaks blithely, pointing when appropriate. "The Hokage Monument is up there – that's where the past hokages are sculpted into the mountain. The first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, was once famed as the God of Shinobi. He founded the village in…"

Ino lets herself be led through her hometown. She knows this place and its history as well as Sakura does, of course, but it would be rude to interrupt the Hokage. And besides, Sakura seems incredibly pleased with her own knowledge and proud to share it. It would be downright cruel to take that away. When they at least reach the park, Ino finally speaks. "The people here seem very happy," she says lightly, subtly guiding Sakura toward the purple-leaved maple tree that got her here. She's surprised to feel Sakura stop abruptly and tug her hand away.

Ino follows suit, stilling in the middle of the stone pathway to look at her child-sized friend. For once, she's frowning. "Well, why shouldn't they be?"

"No reason," Ino says quickly. "It's just odd, you know. Most people aren't happy all the time."

"Yeah, I know…" Sakura crosses her arms and stares guiltily at the ground. When she doesn't finish the thought, Ino begins sidling toward the tree less than ten yards away, banking on Sakura's need as a child to be close to an adult. Sure enough, Sakura reflexively shuffles after her, though she doesn't seem to notice she's doing it. "Can… can I be honest with you, Yamanaka-san?" Sakura eventually asks, her voice subdued. Her eyes are large and too somber for someone her age.

"Of course, Hokage-sama. Please, speak freely."

Sakura nods, very business like, but her little hands are fisted in her robes anxiously. "The truth is that… not everyone is always happy."

"Well," Ino takes small, meandering steps toward the tree. Almost there. "That would be a bit unrealistic, I suppose."

Sakura's frown deepens. "I'm not always happy, either. In fact, I'm not happy most of the time. People aren't very nice to me…"

Only a couple of feet now. "They seem very nice to me," Ino offers distractedly.

"That's because they aren't real."

Ino freezes with her hand outstretched and only a few inches from the tree. Her heart skips a beat. This is a fantasy. This version of Sakura should be acting according to that fantasy. She shouldn't know it's not real, so then why…?

Sakura watches her wearily, and Ino realizes that she hasn't said anything yet. "What do you mean?" She asks slowly. Sakura blushes, shuffling her feet nervously.

"Well, it's a dream I have all the time. I imagine that if I were the Hokage, then I could make everyone happy because people wouldn't be allowed to be mean to each other… I know it's silly," Sakura whispers, "but I want it to be real, so I think about it a lot."

A few things click into place with her words.

Now that Ino thinks about it, it doesn't make sense that Sakura – the one she knows – would have this fantasy. If she did, Ino imagines she'd at least be her own age, not six-years-old, but the truth is that the Sakura she knows would never allow herself to imagine she could be important or powerful enough to become Hokage. Which means that this isn't her Sakura. It's a version of her, but a past version like the world around them – not a fantasy, but a _memory_ of a fantasy, and this isn't Sakura, but a memory of her, too.

 _This is so convoluted…_

Layers on layers on layers, and Sakura, the real one, is somewhere at the bottom. Ino at last touches the tree and isn't surprised to find it solid. There is no way back. Why would there be, when Sakura was certain she'd been living her last moments on Earth? Which means that she isn't hiding on purpose, and she isn't lost.

 _She thinks she's dead._

Immediately wearied by the weight of her comprehension, Ino plops down on the grass and turns her attention back to Sakura, who has grown exponentially more nervous in the silence. If her suspicions are correct, than this little girl before her isn't really real, but she's still part of the real Sakura's mind. Which means that her emotions – and what Ino says to her – might matter.

"Come, sit," Ino opens her arms to invite this child into her lap. She tries not to worry about the fact that she has no idea how she's going to get out of this. Sakura hesitates for only a moment, but the allure of friendly physical contact is too tempting. She climbs into Ino's lap, curling up more like a dog than a child. She's obviously unsure of herself. She looks up at Ino as if to ask, _"Is this okay?"_ And Ino, in response, strokes her hair soothingly.

It's almost ironic that they're in the park now, the very place that Ino had turned her back on helping this emotionally distraught child so many years ago. _This is what I should have done_ , Ino acknowledges now without a shadow of doubt. Maybe minus the lap sitting, but still. _I guess this is a second chance._

"You said that people are mean to you?" Ino asks gently, her fingers deftly braiding and unbraiding Sakura's short hair.

The little girl barely tips her head in a nod, careful not to disrupt the process. "They beat me up a lot, and they laugh at me…"

"And why is that?"

"Because," Sakura whispers, curling into herself, "they say that I'm weak, and not good at anything, and that I'm ugly 'cuz – my forehead…"

"What about your forehead?"

"It's…"

"Hmm?" Sakura's answer is inaudible, but her sniffles aren't. Ino speaks resolutely, "Let's have a look, then."

"N-no! Don't! You'll – "

But Ino has already turned the weakly struggling child around so that they're face to face. She leans forward, humming thoughtfully and pretending to inspect Sakura's forehead. After a moment, she sits back and gently taps her fingers against the offending body part. "Yep," she nods. "Looks like a forehead to me."

"But – but, it's too big…"

Ino shakes her head and brushes aside Sakura's bangs. "I don't think so at all. In fact, I think you're very cute, Hokage-sama."

Sakura's chin is still tucked nearly to her chest, but she manages a shy glance. Her cheeks are red. Ino smiles at that. "Do you really think so?" Sakura whispers, and Ino nods decisively.

"I do. And, I also know that bullies always target people they think are vulnerable. If you stop trying to hide your forehead, then people will eventually stop making fun of you for it."

"B-but… it's ugly…"

"It's not," Ino chides her gently. "You have to be confident, Sa – Hokage-sama. If you're confident, then those bullies won't see you as a target, don't you think?"

At last, Sakura finally uncurls from her defensive position. She still looks scared, but the curiosity in her eyes is a good sign, and when Ino wipes her tears away, Sakura speaks in an awed tone, "You're so smart. I hope I grow up to be like you, someday."

Pride and sadness and shame burst in Ino's chest like a row of firecrackers igniting in quick succession. Pride for how she knows Sakura will turn out, and for being part of that. Sadness for what she had to suffer through first, and shame for the fact that Ino had willfully ignored it. If she only hadn't turned away that day in the park, what would Sakura be like now, she wonders? _What would_ _ **I**_ _be like?_

"Someday," Ino says kindly, plucking a buttercup from the grass and tucking it behind Sakura's ear, "you're going to grow up to be even better than that. You're just a bud now, Sakura, but eventually you'll bloom into a beautiful flower."

"How do you know?"

Sakura's fingers flutter up to the flower at her ear unsurely, and Ino gives her best confident grin. "Because, I'm a florist! And I know that the most wonderful blooms come from the plants that have more time to absorb nourishment. Even if you don't believe me now," Ino adds at Sakura's skeptical look, "someday you'll see for yourself. I promise."

"Do you really think so?" Sakura asks, her eyes wide and heartbreakingly hopeful. "Do you think I could… make friends, someday… maybe…?"

"You already have! I'm your friend now, right?"

Sakura's jaw drops in a perfect dramatization of astonished excitement. Her hands go up to her mouth, and then her expression crumples into happy tears. She throws her arms around Ino's neck with such force that Ino laughs even as she's knocked backwards right into the tree behind her.

Or, rather, right _through_ the tree behind her.

When Ino opens her eyes again, the world is dark.

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 _Feedback? :)_


	22. Fantasy Mirrors Desire

**A/N** : Here it is! The second-to-last (incredibly long...) installment! I had a lot of fun writing this one. Messing with realities is always such a good time... Bonus points to anyone that recognizes the book series I mention here (which is not real, to my knowledge). I'll be posting the final chapter and the epilogue together in a few days, time permitting. Happy reading, and thanks to everyone for reviews, follows, and favorites :)

Also, there is a **warning** for this chapter: it contains implied consensual sex between two women, both of whom are underage by the US federal government's standards. If that bothers you, feel free to pretend that they merely played an intense game of checkers.

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Chapter 21

"If Fantasy Mirrors Desire, It Sure Looks a Lot Like Ino"

...

It takes Ino a little while to remember where she is. It doesn't help that this world gives no clues. Everything is dark. Black. Not a pinpoint of light anywhere in sight. She thinks there must be walls, or at least, it _feels_ like there's something pressing down around her, some invisible force. It's not a kind one. The world is barren and empty as she looks around at nothing – it makes no difference whether her eyes are opened or closed, whether she steps forward or back or turns. There is no path, nowhere to go. There isn't anything at all.

Is there even Ino?

Disconcerted, she tries to look down at her hands but finds them absent. At the very least, she can feel her fingers brush against her cheek, but it's a hollow sensation, like hugging a plastic doll. With no other choice, she walks. Her footsteps produce no sound. She can't tell how far she's moved, or if she's moving at all in this utter desolation. It's too silent, too dark…

After what could have easily been minutes or weeks, Ino at last sees something morphing from the empty space in the distance. She finds Sakura hunched over a desk. The glow of the table lamp functions as the only illumination, but it's so bright that it startles her. Ino shields her eyes from the dim bulb underneath the lampshade as if it were the sun itself. It's so – not dark. It's the first not-dark she's seen in… however long it's been, but it only serves to expose the void around them. Light catches on emptiness and reveals emptiness and nothing else but exactly how much emptiness there is.

Except, at least, there's Sakura.

 _Right,_ Ino reminds herself, vaguely unnerved by the fact that she'd forgotten for even a second where she is and who she's here for. It's easy to do though, when the world is just so bleak… _I'm in Sakura's head_.

The child version of Sakura is nowhere in sight. She's disappeared along with the rest of that world. Now, there's only this Sakura, who looks to be around eight-years-old. Her shoulders are hunched and her eyes narrowed in concentration as she flips rapidly through the book in front of her, writing hurried notes as she turns the pages every few seconds.

Surely no one could write that fast, though…?

"Sakura?" Ino calls out softly. Or so she thought, but the loudness of her voice in the cavernous and simultaneously suffocating space returns to her ears at an unbearable volume. As she listens to her own call bounce around inside her skull, the precise scale of barrenness around her becomes complete. It coalesces like a smothering blanket, clinging to her skin, wrapping around her neck in asphyxiating oneness.

It's so… Blank. Lonely.

So lonely it _hurts_.

There are no signs of life, or that life has ever existed outside of this. No hints of the world beyond this place. Trying to battle the steadily rising panic in her body, Ino clears her throat and tries again. "Sakura?"

Sakura doesn't answer. She doesn't turn around. She just continues writing.

Ino approaches her wearily, circling the desk a few times. Nothing of note rests atop its wooden surface. There's only the pen in Sakura's hand, the lamp, and the book that she's scribbling in maddeningly fast, but the words are in tiny script and Sakura's stooped form hides them. Ino circles again, stopping behind Sakura, and leans down. She squints in an attempt to decipher the impossibly small handwriting. She leans closer. The tiny letters swim before her eyes. Blinking rapidly to clear her vision, she bends even further toward the book. Finally, when her nose is nearly to the page, she reads:

" _Nothing."_

Nothing. Nothing on every page, nothing around her, nothing in the world but _nothing_. Ino jerks back from the book, jittery with panic and thoroughly disquieted, to find that Sakura is gone.

The chair is empty.

Empty. Gone. Nowhere blank scratch nada zilch zero done finished _nothingnothingnothing_ –

"Sakura!" Ino's voice pitches with desperation, but she doesn't care. She doesn't want to be here anymore. She's never wanted to be away from anywhere more in her entire life. "Sakura! Hey! Is anyone – _Sakura!_ "

No reply. The void around her presses down with crushing force, constricting her lungs, drowning her at the juncture of two gigantic waves. Her inhalations are shallow, and too fast, and much, much too loud. An insult to the abyss.

There is no answer, and there will never be an answer, just like there is no way out.

 _What – how did I – why am I here…?_

… _Does it matter?_

Ino claws at the unwinding edges of her consciousness, but the chasm around her is like an empty pool and her mind is a liquid seeping out to fill it. Emptying her to match this place. Her eyes water. In a fit of frenzied heartache, she reaches for the journal on the desk, mocking her with its open pages. Ino grips both edges and _tears_ , and then the world explodes around her.

#

When everything at last settles, it does so at an achingly loud volume compared to the place from which she just came.

She couldn't be happier for it. The first thoughts in her head are:

 _I am Yamanaka Ino._

 _I'm in Haruno Sakura's head, trying to bring her back._

 _I can't breathe._

Her eyes snap open and then shut just as quickly at the immediate burn of acrid water flooding them. At least her palms are braced against something solid, and she pushes against it, her face lifting from the pool of water in a cacophony of sputtering, gasping breaths. She wipes the liquid from her face and at last opens her eyes to find that she'd woken face down in a fountain… A fountain in the middle of a courtyard, in the middle of a quiet, mostly residential area of Konoha, in the middle of a small crowd of confused spectators.

"Are you alright?" A woman calls out hesitantly, trying to decide if she should help her up or not.

"I'm fine, thank you," Ino grumbles. She sloshes her way out of the knee-high fountain and back onto dry land.

Ino takes a deep, steadying breath, and tries to orient herself. The Hyuuga compound is visible in the distance. A familiar row of cookie cutter townhomes lines the street. If she follows the dirt path into the patch of trees behind her and treks through the forest, she'll find her favorite field of flowers. Ino sighs, the relief overwhelming and immediate.

 _Back home,_ she thinks, and then frowns at the inaccuracy of the thought. _Well, sort of_. But it's certainly better than wherever she'd been before, although, to be fair, that is the lowest bar _ever_.

 _Is that what she felt like…?_

For years.

Ino's heart sinks in sympathy, the residual coldness of that world still chilling her from the inside out. The scale of that emptiness far surpasses anything she's ever experienced - anything she could've imagined. Her eyes squeeze shut, her inhalation shuddering with emotion – and determination.

 _I'm going to bring you back. Life will be better. I'll_ _ **make**_ _it better._

But first she'll have to find her.

It's nighttime now. The moon glows fully above her, luminescing brightly in the absence of stars or clouds and bathing the evening wanderers in milky light. This area of Konoha is quieter than most others. A fair number of small restaurants and boutique shops intermittently edge the streets to attract the type of late night crowd that prefers privacy to the typical bar scene. Couples stroll through the beautiful courtyard along the pebbled, flower-lined paths, past the fountain and the iron archway marking the exit to the street. Here, every spare plot of suitable land erupts with flowering trees. Soft petals in shades of white and pink rain down around her, shimmering opaquely in the moonlight. It's beautiful to the point of being nearly surreal.

Ino takes her time sauntering down the sidewalk, enjoying the evening air, the soft murmuring and giggling of the passing couples, and the refreshingly chilly breeze carrying the mouthwatering scent of food. She gravitates toward the cute, relatively upscale restaurants lining the other side of the street. Discretely, she peers inside the windows and wishes she could be in there eating, too, when she suddenly freezes mid-step outside a small sushi restaurant. There are only eight tables inside, each covered in white linen. A short candle and a single orchid serve as the centerpiece. It's dim inside, enhancing the romantic ambiance, but it would have to be pitch black for Ino to miss the pink-haired woman within.

Sakura is seated at one of the tables. Her chin rests in her hand, and there's a smile on her face as she listens to her companion speak. The man across the table appears rather plain looking. He's halfway to handsome, really, but not quite there, with dark brown hair and severe eyes and short stubble across his square chin. His features are rather unremarkable and don't strike any familiar chords. Ino feels fairly certain she's never seen him before, but then, she's never seen this Sakura before, either.

 _This_ Sakura must be at least twenty. Her body appears taller and curvier in a burgundy evening dress, her long hair pulled up into an artfully messy bun, and her face, although clearly hers, is just _slightly_ more defined than the Sakura that Ino knows. She's painted her lips a deep red to match the dress. A gold chain dangles from her slim wrist.

There's also a diamond ring on her finger.

And Ino thinks: _this must be a fantasy if she's older,_ and then, _she's beautiful_ , and then, _but she's marrying_ _ **that**_ _guy?! He's not even that hot!_

Outrage.

How could she settle for a guy like that?! He's so _plain_ looking, for God's sake! Ino eyes the gold ring and the rather sizable diamond resting atop it. _It better not be because he's rich!_ Seriously, what is Sakura thinking?! She could at least pick someone hot – someone worth her time! Someone deserving of her talent, her kindness, her thoughtfulness and her quiet strength, her admirable humility, or how endearingly embarrassed she becomes over anything sexual, or the adorably shy way she smiles when she's hoping for approval, or how her eyes light up in admiration in a way that's usually only reserved for Ino –

"Miss, are you here for dinner –"

"Who the hell is that guy?!" Ino grabs the host by the collar of his starched button-up, yanking him down to her height so she can stare into his understandably terrified eyes. He tries to stutter an answer, and Ino shakes him by the shoulders in her urgency. "Spit it out already!"

"Th-that's – his name is, uh, N-Nakahara Hitoshi-san, and he's here to celebrate his engagement," the host rambles. "He special ordered a bottle of imported champagne, and for dinner he had beef sukiyaki –"

That's the last straw.

"Who the hell orders sukiyaki at a sushi restaurant?!" Ino screams, at last releasing the petrified host only to immediately grab him again. "Do you know anything else about him?"

"M-miss, if you'd just let me –"

" _Do you or not?!_ "

He quickly decides that being cooperative is in his best interest. "All I know is what he told us when he reserved the table! They've been dating for a year and got engaged last week! That's it, I swear!"

Ino's eyes narrow suspiciously. She stares him down for a moment longer before at last releasing him, spinning him around so that he misses her quick ascent up the side of the building.

See, this simply _won't_ do. Not at all. The fact that Sakura can't even have an ideal man in her fantasies is just another symptom of her underlying mental agony, Ino is sure of it, and after enduring the torture of that last fragment of Sakura's mind with its infinite loneliness and despair – well, Sakura deserves something better than that. Better than Hito-whatever-the-hell. At least that much is certain, and how, one might ask, does Ino know that he's not the right person for her?

Because she just _does_ , damnit!

As she sits on her perch on the roof, she tries to remind herself that this isn't real, but it doesn't stick. If anything, the fact that this is a fantasy only encourages her, because who fantasizes about settling?! Fantasies are supposed to be the one place that you're safe to be who you want, and feel how you want, and think what you want, and especially – _especially!_ – when it comes to love. That Sakura has internalized her feelings of worthlessness to the point that she can't even let herself be happy in an imaginary relationship isn't just said, it's _tragic_.

She deserves to be happy, and Ino is going to make damn sure she will be even if she has to play the part herself, just like she'd promised not twenty minutes earlier and just like any good, close friend would do…!

Besides, even though playing along runs the risk of becoming too entangled in Sakura's consciousness, interacting with the environment and helping the figments in Sakura's head has been the only way Ino's found to pass from one part of her mind to the next. There's a chance that changing things here will allow her to move on once again.

…Right?

… _I'll go with that._

When they exit the restaurant, Ino gives them a bit of a head start before following at a consistent distance behind them to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Thank you again for dinner," Sakura's tone carries a graceful femininity uncharacteristic for her usually nervous demeanor. The unfamiliarity of it nearly makes Ino laugh before she remembers she's supposed to be hiding. "It was lovely."

"It was my pleasure." Hitoshi smiles and laces his fingers in hers. When Sakura looks at him, there's open gratitude on her face, the same as when Ino first cut her hair, or after their first flower arranging lessons, or when she'd helped her pick a new outfit, or just any time in general, really, because Sakura is a conscientious person who is grateful for many things and that gratitude is usually reserved for _Ino_ and –

And the jealousy. It _burns_.

As the analogous sun in Sakura's universe, Ino does not take kindly to being shoved out of the center of her gravity – out of the center of attention. As far as she knows, she's thus far been the only person in Sakura's life to receive that dedicated veneration – deservedly so, of course, because Ino _is_ awesome, as Shikamaru recently helped remind her – and she's not about to get sidelined by a generic looking, poorly crafted figment of Sakura's imagination and lose that. She's never been a fan of silver medals.

Sakura and Hitoshi chat idly about the food and the weather and other mundane things until they reach the corner of the sidewalk where the road diverges at a T-intersection. They stop, illuminated by a single street lamp, and Ino quickly ducks behind the brick wall of an adjacent building.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with me?" Sakura asks, the hope in her voice obvious.

Hitoshi answers regretfully, "I'm sorry, Sakura, you know I can't. I have a meeting early tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, I know," she smiles to hide her disappointment. "Get home safely, okay?"

Ino watches in disgusted fascination as they lean in to kiss. It's quick. Formal, in an almost detached way. When they part, Hitoshi turns to smile and wave at Sakura before he rounds the corner, and Sakura returns the gesture, but as soon as he's out of sight, her shoulders slump. She sighs softly and stares into space at nothing – no, correction: she stares _forlornly_ into space at nothing.

 _Ha!_ Ino thinks triumphantly. I _knew she wasn't happy!_

Indeed, Sakura doesn't smile a single time on the way home. Even more telling, she stops at the courtyard and watches with obvious melancholy as a couple sits on the edge of the fountain, talking closely and clearly head-over-heels in love.

Ino follows her meandering route all the way back to her home, which she strongly suspects isn't actually Sakura's home but an imaginary apartment suitable for generic adulthood. She watches Sakura throw her keys on the counter and pull the clip out of her bun, long hair spilling down her back, and then as she bends awkwardly to unzip her dress and reveal a lacy black bra. The type of lingerie a woman doesn't wear unless she's expecting someone to appreciate it.

 _Psh, "work in the morning" my ass._ Ino rolls her eyes. _Surely he'd still get a few hours of sleep, and what kind of man rejects sex with his fiancé after a celebratory night out? His beautiful fiancé, no less, dressed in lingerie – hell, she even broke out the matching underwear and he's not here to appreciate it. If I were him –_

The thought stops short. Ino remembers quite suddenly and all at once that she's currently clinging to the side of an apartment building and five stories up, peering in through a window and watching a woman undress. Creepy? Yes. Very much. Not exactly the type of behavior one would expect from a fantasy-worthy suitor.

 _Oops. I should probably look away_ , she thinks, watching as the dress pools around Sakura's ankles.

 _Yep, definitely time to stop looking._

Sakura unfastens her bra, letting it hang momentarily from her shoulders.

 _Any… any second now, I'll just turn away…_

Sakura hooks her fingers around the band of her underwear.

 _Okay, I mean, we're both women here, it's nothing I haven't seen before. She did trick me in the bath, too, although her body was different, and it was too foggy to see much, and it wasn't really her, but surely there's no harm in…_

Sakura turns to face the bed, which is conveniently in front of the window, unknowingly exposing her front side to Ino who remains hidden by the glare of the bedroom lights. The underwear and bra drop to the floor.

So does Ino.

She catches herself at the last second to avoid breaking her legs from the five-story fall. Then she takes a deep, cleansing breath, and then another one, and then another one, and then she can feel her extremities again, which is very useful indeed.

"Alrighty then!" She chirps. "Curiosity satisfied."

Ino walks quickly away, her head held high because she's done nothing wrong, really, and her dignity is fully intact. Watching an unsuspecting woman undress through her bedroom window? Totally dignified.

Falling fifty feet as a result? Dignified.

Sleeping on a park bench? Also dignified.

 _Nothing wrong with being curious. This is all Sakura's fault anyway,_ Ino reassures herself. And if that doesn't make any sense, well, screw it. She's too exhausted to care.

#

The first thing Ino decides when she wakes up is that she's going to have to find a better place to sleep. Cement benches are really quite uncomfortable. They're also public, and she opens her eyes to the well-intentioned prodding of a young man concerned for her safety. After reassuring him that she's fine, and yes, she has a place to stay, and no, it's not going to be in his home, Ino sets about putting her plan into motion.

First: a shower. And a toothbrush. Of course Sakura's mental acrobatics would extend so far as to include details like hygiene, but that sort of detail has its benefits, too. Ino easily pickpockets a few oblivious pedestrians and uses their cash to rent herself a hotel room and buy the necessary beauty products, along with a change of clothes. When she's appropriately freshened up, she then sets about designing her transformation. Not wanting to screw with the carefully crafted mental energies that went into creating the environment, Ino settles for a traditional henge. After all, if this version of Sakura is twenty-something-years-old, she'd hardly be interested in a sixteen-year-old girl. Or one would hope, anyway, so Ino crafts the image, performs the hand signs, and admires her new form in the mirror.

 _Maybe I went overboard on the boobs…? Nah._

In any case, she looks older, and that's what matters.

Now, to sweep this Sakura off her feet in order to move on and find the real one…!

If there are other reasons, Ino would rather not think about them. At least not right now. There are plenty of implications, emotional risks and investments, worries and fears and things that should be said… things she isn't sure she _can_ say. Not yet, anyway. While Ino has more than enough self-awareness to (sort of) figure out what's going on in her own head at this point, that doesn't mean she's ready to address it in all of its complicated, headache inducing glory.

Denial is a useful tool. For now, until she can sort it out on her own, she'll use all the convenient excuses available to make this about "Sakura and the subpar fantasy" and not at all about "Sakura and Ino."

 _Although, my name should come first, really._

She follows Sakura into town, staying at a discreet distance and glad to have picked an understated outfit to better blend into the crowd. Of course Sakura would go to a bookstore first thing in the morning, Ino laughs inwardly. It's convenient, though. She'd been trying to think of a way to simply bump into her and strike up a conversation, and books are certainly an easy way to do that.

Ino counts to sixty before following her inside. She immediately spots Sakura at the café in the back of the store, accepting a cup of coffee from the barista before taking a seat at the tiny corner table. She pulls a book out of her bag and immediately cracks it open.

Ino saunters through the aisles and pretends to read the titles on the shelves, steadily closing the distance between them until she can read the one in Sakura's hand. If the flowery cover is any indication, it's a romance novel. Which is unsurprising considering the contents of the bookshelves in her primary mindscape. This one looks old, the spine heavily creased, with bent corners and worn looking pages that she must've thumbed through quite a bit, judging from the state of the many dog-eared folds, and yet, Sakura still appears totally captivated.

" _Star Swept."_ Ino reads. _Sounds cheesy._

She peruses the store in search of the title, pulls it from the shelf, and flips it over to read the summary on the back.

" _Chiharo, the daughter of the legendary space traveller Hashimoto Shoichi, dreams of following in her father's footsteps by traveling through the stars to undiscovered lands. When a devastating injury leaves her unable to pilot her own vessel, however, she finds herself in the vulnerable position of having to put her faith in someone else's skills. Her fiancé, the decorated military pilot Fujimura Katsuro, will certainly take her where she wants to go, but the young engineer, Yamauchi Takeo, might take her somewhere she never expected. It's not just her choice in captains that's in question anymore, but her choice in love…"_

Huh. Not what she expected. Ino flips through the pages and quickly becomes engrossed. By chapter three, the love triangle between Chiharo, her fiancé Katsuro, and the engineer Takeo begins to sound familiar. By chapter five, Ino is sure. Sakura's fantasy is based on this book. She's settling for Hitoshi because she doesn't think she can do any better, because she doesn't think she _deserves_ to dream bigger – just as Chiharo feels inadequate due to her injury. But, really, they're both just waiting for Takeo. She almost feels bad for Katsuro, and, by extension, Hitoshi. _Almost_.

Her realization also begs a very interesting question. If Sakura's fantasy isn't intended to end with her marrying Hitoshi, that means she must have had someone else in mind… and if Sakura's behavior around her is any indication, it's not hard to guess who.

Reassured that she is, in fact, doing the right thing, Ino casually saunters over to Sakura's table in the café and takes a seat across from her. When the other woman at last looks up from her novel to find she's gained some company, Ino holds up the book in her hand and smiles. "You have good taste."

"Oh," Sakura blushes, flattered. "Thank you. I guess that means you do as well."

Ino smoothly shrugs off the compliment. "I saw how many times you must've flipped through your copy and got curious. I'm normally not the type for romance novels."

"Oh? So what type are you?"

How very unexpectedly flirtatious. But, then again, this _is_ Sakura's _imagined_ version of herself, one who is at least confident enough to buy lingerie. And, thankfully, one who apparently feels self-assured enough to create an opportunity for some very classically witty, flirtatious banter, a la romance novel style. It's like being put into the middle of a book, with the unrealistically fast back-and-forth conversations, subtle glances and all. Good thing Ino is quick on her feet _and_ familiar with every good chick flick to come out in the past ten years. She might not be the one directing the movie here, but she's perfectly happy to play the lead instead.

"I prefer my romance in real life." Ino replies nonchalantly, not breaking eye contact. "But I'm sure someone as beautiful as you knows all about that."

 _Hmm… too much, maybe?_

She's fairly certain Sakura's blush extends from the roots of her hair down to her chest – a thought that's naturally followed by the vivid image of her naked in her apartment. Ino's expression almost falters, but she catches it just in time.

"Ah, well… I'm… not sure about that," Sakura admits at last, her eyes flitting down to the tabletop embarrassedly. They both simultaneously take note of the ring on her finger, and she slides her hand into her lap, twisting the band anxiously.

There's a thin line between pushy and suave. Ino wisely chooses to avoid the subject for now. "I guess there are always differences between fiction and real life," she offers lightly. "Like Takeo and Katsuro, for example. In the book it's easy to choose one over the other, but in real life, I imagine it would be much harder than that."

"Yes, I would think so."

It takes another second or two, but Sakura lifts her chin to face Ino's interested smile. "I'd love to hear what you think about it."

"Y-you would?"

"Yes, I would." Ino says simply. "Are you free for lunch? I know a great place for barbecue, if you want to meet there in a couple of hours. Around noon?"

Sakura bites her lip, hesitates. "Oh… I don't… I shouldn't…"

"Shouldn't go to lunch?" Ino asks playfully. "Don't tell me you're watching your figure."

She punctuates this with a, "because-you-definitely-don't-need-to" look that has Sakura blushing all over again, and after a moment more, she concedes to Ino's superior flirting skills. "Alright, lunch then. Where should I meet you?"

"Have you heard of Yechon?"

Sakura pauses, surprised. "I love that place."

 _Hehehehe… I know!_

"Perfect, then. I'll see you there," Ino smiles and stands. She replaces the book on the shelf and counts down the seconds.

 _3… 2… 1…_

"Oh!" Sakura calls, and Ino pauses, not turning around to reveal the wide grin on her face. "I didn't catch your name."

Carefully schooling her expression into something less like a pleased cat, Ino throws a casual glance over her shoulder. "Ino."

"Ino," Sakura repeats. "I'm Sakura."

"It's been a pleasure already, Sakura. I can't wait for lunch."

And with that, Ino exits the bookstore, leaving a smiling and flustered and probably worried Sakura to spend the next few pages – er, hours – struggling with her inner turmoil and trying to justify her vaguely adulterous decision. Ino, meanwhile, practically skips back to the hotel.

Mission successful.

It's like a game. A wonderful game where she gets to be the star that steals all the hearts, the heroine that saves someone from a loveless marriage, _and_ she can openly flaunt all her skills in feminine subterfuge that she's only rarely gotten to use since the Academy, and of these, she has many. Because she's the full package, the real deal, the best of the best when it comes to things like this! Yamanaka Ino knows love and all its games.

 _Oh yeah._ She grins gleefully, sorting through her questionably ascertained wardrobe. _I got this in the bag._

#

It's surprisingly more fun to be in the driver's seat, so to speak, while on a date. Ino's been on a few here or there, and each time she's found the boys that take her out are just a little too slow on the pick up, a little too quick to assume, or else deficient in some skill or other that prevented them from keeping up with her in either conversation or confidence.

With Sakura, though, Ino lets herself set the pace, and she finds that – like most things, really – she's much better at it than other people. Her only regret is choosing a barbecue restaurant. It's not exactly the most romantic, but then again, if she'd picked somewhere candlelit and stuffy, that would make her no different than Hitoshi, so perhaps she'd made the right decision after all. As she usually does, of course. Really, at this point, she's got Sakura so thoroughly wrapped around her finger that she couldn't muck it up if she tried.

...The thought that starring in Sakura's fantasy _might_ have (completely) gone to her head does not occur to Ino.

"…So, I guess you're right," Sakura giggles, finishing a rant on Katsuro's often aloof character. "He really doesn't have a lot of passion for much of anything, does he?"

"Hardly. He's more of a plot device than a character. It makes you wonder what he's like in bed, huh?"

"I-Ino!" Sakura chides lightly, though she looks like she's trying not to laugh. Her eyes flit up to Ino's face curiously, and Ino chalks the joke up as a success. Ahem, _another_ success, rather.

"So, Sakura," she stirs her drink, the picture of nonchalance. "You never told me. Do you have a Takeo in your life?"

"Not… not quite…" Sakura's hand rests midway on the wide wooden table, the dishes long ago having been cleared, and Ino looks pointedly at the ring on her finger.

"A Katsuro, then…?"

"I wouldn't – I mean, Hitoshi's not _that_ bad…" Ino raises an eyebrow and waits. "He's sweet…" She waits some more. "And he loves me…" More waiting. "But he's not exactly the most…"

"Romantic?" Ino guesses.

Sakura sighs. "No, not at all. But I really can't complain. He cares about me a lot."

Ino leans back in her chair and levels Sakura with a calculating look. "I don't mean to butt my head into your business, Sakura," she preempts the statement carefully, "but is it really a good idea to marry a man who you think of as 'not that bad'?"

"That still makes him better than me."

Ino fights back the vehement retort on the tip of her tongue, wisely watering it down. "I have my doubts about that," she says firmly, but Sakura merely shakes her head.

"It's true. Hitoshi is a good man, a faithful fiancé, and he has a well-paying job. That's more than someone like me could ask for, you know? I'm not particularly good looking, and I don't have a lot of good qualities. Even now, I'm just complaining about myself. I'm sure I don't make very good company…"

An angry, distinctly protective feeling builds in Ino's gut, one that has very little to do with acting and games and fantasies. There's a lot more writhing under the surface and begging to be said, too, because at the end of the day, this _is_ still Sakura, and she _is_ still Ino, and even if she doesn't want to think about what the intensity of her own sentiments might mean, Ino would never let Sakura talk about herself this way and get away with it. She doesn't plan to start now.

"I'll have to disagree with you about all that," Ino says resolutely. She reaches for the – stolen – wallet and places a wad of bills on the table. "First of all, you're obviously intelligent - your insight on the novel is more than enough to prove that. Not to mention, romanticism is a rare and highly desirable quality in itself, you know. Why else would Takeo be so attractive compared to Katsuro?"

"I suppose you have a point there," Sakura admits with a shy smile.

Ino extends her hand to help Sakura from her seat, and when she takes it, Ino laces their fingers together as she leads them out of the restaurant. Sakura lets her. "Exactly. You make wonderful company, and I'm going to prove it to you."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"By spending the rest of the day with you, of course."

#

Eventually, Ino forgets to ask herself what the dashingly attractive, emotionally sensitive protagonist of a romance novel would do. She's too busy having a good time. They walk through the strip at a leisurely pace, talking about books and politics and movies and bad relationships. Ino tells her about Rinji, the cute boy that offered to take her out on a picnic by the lake only to spend an hour trying to "subtly" convince her to go skinny-dipping with him.

"That's awful," Sakura giggles. "What did you do?"

"I dumped a pitcher of ice water down his pants." The giggles evolve into full-blown laughter. Sakura's hand comes up to her mouth in that adorably self-conscious way, but Ino gently tugs it down. "I like your smile," Ino explains sincerely. "There's no need to hide it."

Sakura blushes and stutters and Ino makes another joke and then she's laughing all over again. She does not attempt to cover her smile again as they talk in the lush courtyard, stop for coffee, and laugh at the plot-less matinee from the back of an empty theater.

When the sun begins to go down, their search for food leads them to the vendors around the shopping district. They grab two onigiri and duck into an arcade on a whim, immersing themselves in the flashing lights and electronic sounds of the machines spread across the large room. It's not long before they're challenging each other in a way that strongly reminds Ino of Sakura's other personality. They spend fistfuls of quarters on pinball (which Ino wins) and 8-bit games (which Sakura wins) and, eventually, skee-ball.

"How do you do that?" Sakura asks, watching with open admiration as Ino sinks every single one without even needing to roll it.

Ino dunks two quarters into the adjacent machine and gestures at it. "You try."

Sakura does try. And she fails miserably. The wooden ball rolls up the ramp and falls straight back down into the gutter.

"No way," Ino scoffs, "I've seen –" _you get six bulls-eyes at a time annnd I can't say that, can I? Oops._ "Er, I'm sure you can do better than that."

"I don't know, it's actually pretty hard…"

"Here, let me show you," Ino offers, never afraid to be the expert at anything. She steps behind Sakura and wraps her hand around the back of Sakura's so that they're both cupping the ball, and in one smooth motion, she pushes her arm forward at the right angle and momentum to send the ball rolling straight into the 10,000 point marker. "Now you try."

Sakura grabs another ball.

She sinks it like it's second nature.

"See? That wasn't so… wait a minute." Ino pauses, taking in their close proximity with her front pressed to Sakura's back and the fact that Sakura sank the ball like she'd known how to do it all along… Which she had, Ino realizes. "You tricked me?"

"Maybe," Sakura admits, throwing a wink over her shoulder. It's this perfect mix of things. The shy, approval-seeking smile of the one, the confident behavior of the other, but in one body, Ino understands, because this fantasy version of Sakura hasn't suffered like the real one has. She's complete and whole and now, standing pressed together and playing overpriced games with Ino, she's _happy_.

They both are.

And it feels good. Better than that, even, and that wink is so perfectly timed and well executed that Ino is impressed and slightly jealous and tingly all at once, and something in her head reminds her, _this isn't real_ , and Ino responds quite immediately, _I don't care._ Maybe it's not real, but in this world, where there are so few consequences and so much to enjoy, she'll take it as it is. For now.

"I'll get you back for that one," Ino promises, but Sakura just shrugs.

"I'm sure you will."

After another hour in the arcade and one more spent wandering the late night crowd, however, they find themselves outside of Sakura's apartment, and when Sakura asks hesitantly, fighting herself and remembering Hitoshi while trying her damndest not to, "Do you want to come up for coffee?"

And Ino accepts thoughtlessly, not wanting the fun to end, "Sure," Ino realizes something.

She'd been comparing this whole thing to somewhat of a game between them, with the flirting and the whisking away. She'd treated the romance like a competition, one in which she had to prove that she could fulfill the fantasy, be the heroine and the protagonist and the perfect actress, and it's only after Sakura closes the door behind her and locks it that Ino remembers a very important detail. When you win a game, there's usually a prize.

…And when that game is basically a choose-your-own-adventure romance novel or some kind of dating sim… Well. When people talk about skipping to the good parts, they aren't usually talking about the dialogue.

 _Shit._

"I'll be back in a moment," Sakura calls from the hallway. "Make yourself comfortable."

 _Shit._

"No problem."

 _Shit shit shit._ She'd just come up to Sakura's apartment. For _coffee_. After a _date_. _Oh, man…_

Ino has about three minutes to figure out what she's going to do.

 _Bury myself, perhaps?_

It almost sounds like a good idea in her sudden panic. Surely it counts as taking advantage of someone if you insert yourself in that person's fantasy and knowingly seduce her away from her imaginary fiancé out of petty jealousy and a misguided hero complex. Of course Sakura deserves better than someone like Hitoshi, and Ino is damn sure she fits the bill – that she was, in fact, intended to play the part – but that certainly isn't an invitation to come and toy with Sakura's emotions just to prove that point. The situation might be imagined, but her emotions, at least, are real.

Which also means that if Ino suddenly evacuated via live burial, or more realistically, the window, she'd be hurting Sakura's very real, very vulnerable feelings.

 _Should I just… stay…?_

How bad would that be, really…?

She's well aware that the real Sakura developed feelings for her some time ago, after all, and between tearing a hole in her incredibly fragile self-esteem or sleeping with her, the latter at least _sounds_ like the better option.

And it's not like this is _really_ real, right? But then, if Sakura's feelings are real, and so are Ino's, where does one safely draw the line between what's real and what's imagined? Even if Hitoshi didn't exist in this fantasy – in other words, if this were real life – and Ino had taken the initiative like she had here, wouldn't Sakura have responded in a similar way? And if that's the case, if Ino actually follows through and does this, what does it really _mean_?

 _I'm confusing myself_ , Ino thinks, fisting her hands in the skirt of her dress irately, but it _is_ confusing.

How connected to Ino's Sakura is this one? How authentic are her reactions? Her emotions? Will she remember this, or will it all just bleed together and be part of the fantasy, and if that's the case, how real, then, is Ino?

 _I just want to know, damnit, because if this isn't real, then I can just leave, and if it is real, then – well, I should probably still leave, but…_

But.

But regardless of abstractions and mind fragments and rapidly smearing edges of reality, there are a few things that _are_ , certainly, _real_ : their ease around each other, and Ino's protectiveness, and her ever increasing respect and admiration, and the affection, and the _something else_ that's been growing there underneath the gigantic stone wall of denial she's built atop it. Not to mention that recurring tingly feeling that quickly cracks said wall and minutely unhinges her jaw when Sakura steps out of the bedroom in a decidedly risqué nightgown that is just so agonizingly see through.

 _When did she even…? Probably while I was sitting here trying to figure out what dimension I'm in, which is…?_

Thinking is hard.

Sakura leans against the doorframe and looks terribly nervous. She's trying to hide it behind a smile, but her fingers tremble where they're wrapped around her waist. She obviously has no idea what she looks like in that skimpy thing, even though she's the one that bought it – or, it's _thought_ it, isn't it? Ino finds that she's only mildly terrified to realize she's having trouble distinguishing the difference. Her mind is focused on the problem before her eyes: Sakura's self-consciousness. And that - Ino can help with that. After all, Ino knows a thing or two about fashion and beauty, and again, she's never one to turn down the chance to be an expert at something. She finds herself on her feet and doesn't remember when she stood.

Ino takes a step forward. Sakura seems like she wants to say something or step away, but she doesn't. The look on her face is the kind of taut vulnerability that can only be described as "make me or break me," and it's so like the Sakura that Ino knows (which is this one, or the other one, or both, or maybe neither?) It's a trust that's deep, and absolute, and that she's placed in Ino and Ino alone, and Ino wouldn't be herself if she didn't sincerely want to take all that power Sakura is offering and clutch it to her chest to the great satisfaction of her all important self-confidence.

But Sakura's eyes keep flitting to the floor uncertainly, and it's the shyness and the defenselessness and the need for reassurance, for comfort, for _Ino_ , that does her in more than anything.

 _Fuck you, Shikamaru,_ Ino thinks without an ounce of malice as she closes the distance between them. _I hate it when you're right._

Whatever she'd been confused about earlier, it's long forgotten by the end of the night. She loses the doubt in the explosive feeling she gets when her back is arching and her hands are fisted in Sakura's hair and it feels like she's falling, falling through the bed, falling through the world –

It takes her too long to realize that she is, literally, falling.

By time she opens her eyes, she's already hit the dirt.

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_


	23. If I Were Me, I'd Die for You

**A/N** : HERE WE GOOOO! I'm so excited to finish my first novel length Naruto fanfic. We have officially surpassed the word count for Tolkien's _The Two Towers,_ haha. I feel so accomplished. I wrote another InoSaku fic called "Don't Break the Needle," for those of you who are interested. It's up on my profile and complete, though it's nowhere near this magnitude in terms of size.

One note for this chapter: It "takes place" after Ino and Sakura graduate from the academy, but before the chunin exams when they actually began to get to know each other. Thank you all as usual, and happy reading!

* * *

Chapter 22

If I Were Me, I'd Die for You

...

Ino is on a mission. She feels like she'd been on another one before this, but there's no way the Hokage would assign her two at once. Right?

When she finally wakes after having her head smashed into a tree by a rogue Iwa-nin, Ino finds her mind scrambled and her memory worryingly spotty. She'd likely suffered a concussion; her strange musings are, therefore, probably irrelevant. Hinata briefs her on what must be her one and only mission: hostage retrieval. It's a lame attempt at a ransom. A large organization of rogue shinobi have kidnapped over two-dozen civilians from Fire Country by pillaging through the rural countryside, and the Daimyo decided he might appear weak if he simply paid the lump sum demanded of him. Instead, he assigned Konoha the task of rescuing the hostages and destroying the enemy's hideout to prevent any further crimes – or at least delay them.

It seems odd that a bunch of genin would be sent on a mission that potentially involves a large-scale confrontation, but wasn't there recently some event or other that cut their forces? Or perhaps the Sandaime is losing her touch. His touch?

Ino presses a finger to her temple. _What?_

The enemy's hideout is embedded in the side of a mountain on the northern edge of Fire Country. It's a large base hidden deeply in a system of caves with numerous dead ends and, if Ino had to guess, a plethora of enemy-nin. After a small skirmish on the perimeter of the enemy's stronghold, her team stopped to outline the plan of action. They're huddled in silence on the border of a sparse forest in the drizzling rain. The sky is as gray as the mood.

Their options are limited without knowing where the hostages are being kept. The little bit of information that earlier reconnaissance managed to gather informed them of four larger chambers connected to a dozen smaller ones, probably storage rooms and bunks for the fifty or so rogue-nin populating the organization, which means the hostages are most likely in one of the four more spacious areas. Shikamaru's fingers trace the crudely drawn map, courtesy of Hinata's byakugan, as he plots a course for them. Something on his face tells Ino that their chances of completing this mission seamlessly are slim to none.

It's a situation made better and worse by the fact that there's only one entrance to the caves. It'll be a simple task to break down the hideout by crumbling the entrance tunnel, but once they do, they'll also have blockaded the one way out. They'll have to be clear of the exit when it comes down while somehow ensuring the enemy is still inside while _also_ corralling over two-dozen hostages.

So how do you rescue that many people without the enemies noticing?

Ino draws a blank, but if anyone can figure it out, she's sure Shikamaru can. She only wishes she felt as confident in the other members of their team. Hinata is somewhat of a gamble with her easily frightened personality, though having the byakugan on their side is an obvious advantage. Shino's skills are perfect for assassination attempts, but he's sometimes so easily distracted by details that she's vaguely worried he'll stop in the middle of combat to explain something to the enemy.

And Sakura…

 _Why is_ _ **she**_ _here?_

It seems odd. Sakura's invisibility will be useful, sure enough, but the girl is so meek that if it came down to a fight, she'd be more hindrance than help. Even now, she's standing quietly off to the side, anxiously polishing kunai and probably reciting Academy lessons in her head.

As a whole, their group has nowhere near the requisite combat experience to take down this many people if something goes wrong. Their team had obviously been formulated specifically to work undercover and _not_ get caught, but if something unexpected happens… Judging by the way Shikamaru's lips are pressed into a thin line, he's likely come to the same grim conclusion.

 _This is a hairs-breadth from a suicide mission…_

Ino wonders if the lot of them had recently done something to piss off the Council elders.

"Alright," Shikamaru mutters, at last standing from his position crouched over the map. His shoes make an ugly squelching noise in the mud. "Here's how this will go. I'm going to get closer to the guards at the entrance and decode their security password, and then I'll be back. Ino, I want you to study the map in the meantime. You're going to Mind Transfer with this guy," he jabs his thumb at their own hostage, the rogue Iwa-nin, "and get inside. From there, you'll figure out where the hostages are being kept. Try not to talk to anyone. If you even think they're getting suspicious, return to your body."

"Right."

"As soon as we know the locations of the hostages, Shino will hide his kikaichu on Sakura, who will follow you inside." He gives the aforementioned girl a skeptical look. She spares him a quick glance and nods before returning her gaze to the sodden ground. Shikamaru sighs wearily. "The bugs will then attach to the guards and sap their chakra. In the meantime, Sakura, you'll double back and plant the explosive tags on the roof of the cave entrance."

"Um," Hinata interrupts, her voice barely above the quiet patter of the rain. "B-but, how do we get the hostages out?"

"Sakura," Shikamaru turns to her, "you can't extend your genjutsu to cover them, can you?"

The sound of her name being spoken is enough to embarrass her, apparently. Her face reddens. "N-no… I don't think so… maybe one or two…"

Shikamaru sighs again, muttering under his breath. "If we want to avoid a full blown confrontation, you'll have to bring them out one or two at a time, then. Ino will hide the guards' bodies. Then, Sakura will start leading the hostages to this location, keeping them hidden with her genjutsu. Hopefully," he emphasizes the word, "no one will notice the dwindling number. If you have enough chakra, Ino, you can replace the hostages with clones, but as soon as the last ones are being led to the exit, I want you out of there."

"Then we set off the bombs," Shino confirms.

"Yes."

"And if they notice before then?"

Shikamaru wipes his hand over his face tiredly. "Then we fight."

The five of them. Against fifty plus enemies.

Ino doesn't like those odds.

It's a good plan though, she thinks. One with a lot of room for error, sure enough, but if Shikamaru thought of it, then it's definitely the option with the highest chance of success. She almost wants to ask him about the likelihood of failure, but she decides against it. No need to scare herself. And the team.

Shikamaru is gone for about ten minutes, skirting around the edges of the entrance, hidden in the shadows and listening for the password before he returns. "They're going to give you a simple math problem," he explains to Ino. "Whatever the answer is, give them the number of letters used to spell it."

"Got it."

She turns to the subdued Iwa-nin, performs her clan's hand seals, and shoves her mind over his consciousness. There is a strange sensation when she does, almost like a tearing, but it's not painful so much as uncomfortable. She chalks it up to exhaustion. She's not sure why she's so damn tired, but her mind feels as if it could fall asleep at any moment.

When her real body collapses, Shikamaru unties her borrowed one and she stands in her new form, shrugging her shoulders and adjusting to the fit, so to speak. She digs up his name from the drawers of his consciousness – Takeshi. He's a tall man of medium build. She'll have to keep in mind the extra reach and the longer gait if a fight breaks out.

Hopefully it won't come to that.

She stops about three yards from the entrance of the compound. One of the guards asks through a yawn, "Six and three?"

"Four," she answers, her voice like two stones scraped together. There's a pack of cigarettes in her pocket that likely explains that. The guards let her inside without question.

The series of caves is lit by electric wall lamps and supported by a series of steel and wooden beams. Nothing that a few bombs won't take care of, she thinks, but the fact that they've built enough infrastructure to manage electricity means they've been here for a while. They likely all know each other at this point, and she can only hope no one will stop her to chat.

Thankfully, her prayers are answered. Most of the shinobi are engrossed in their own activities and rather silent, other than a few conversations around some card tables. She doesn't dare open all the doors of the smaller rooms for fear of attracting attention, but the few that are open reveal exactly what they expected: wooden bunk beds, the frames warped from the moisture and dripping ceilings of the caves; boxes of weapons and food; some closets stuffed from floor to ceiling with alcohol and cigarettes and weapons.

The larger rooms are big enough that her footsteps echo noisily against the stone in the cavernous space. They're well lit, at least, and mostly populated by a few men drinking around small campfires. She catches the tail end of a raunchy joke as she passes by one of the rooms and cringes. Two of the other larger areas are piled high with wooden crates. They're unlabeled, and she guesses they're likely full of the spoils from their frequent plundering.

The last room, the one in the furthest recesses of the cave, is the one she's looking for. It appears mostly empty, but when she runs her hand along the back wall, her fingers eventually hook around a hidden edge, revealing a small passageway carved behind it. She steps around and finds herself in another, smaller room, this one lined with what look like animal cages.

Only, they're filled with hostages, of course. She winces at their physical state. All of them look weak or sick, their clothes reduced to rags and their faces gaunt with exhaustion and dehydration. Two guards sit against the far wall, passing a bottle back and forth between them.

"Takeshi," one of them grunts. "It's not your turn yet. What are you doing here?"

Ino affects as indifferent a posture as possible and reaches for a cigarette, sticking it in the corner of her mouth. "Bored," she grumbles stiffly.

The man snorts. "You're always bored."

"You –" the other one starts and interrupts himself with a drunken hiccup. "You want a go at one of these women?" He knocks his hand against the bars of a cage. The hostages curl in on themselves, and Ino's eyes drift to the faces of the young girls held within. They look too tired to even be scared.

"Later," she says, feeling a little sick, and makes her way back to the entrance. The guards at the cave opening give her an odd look when she leaves again, but she pretends not to notice.

When she passes the bend in the path and is safely out of sight, she doubles back slightly and cuts through the forest to her team's location. Shikamaru is on his back, staring at the sky despite the rain falling into his eyes. "You find them?"

"They're in the back behind a false wall. The hostages aren't in the best condition," she warns. "It'll be slow going."

"And the guards?"

"Two of them. They're both drunk."

"Tch." Shikamaru rolls his eyes. "Well, that's good, at least. No one will question it if they fall asleep. Sakura, are you ready?"

She nods, though she doesn't look very sure. To be fair, Ino thinks, that expression might have more to do with all the insects hidden under her clothes.

When Sakura vanishes before her eyes, Ino begins the trek back to the base, sliding down the muddy hill and onto the road with Sakura behind her. She's so quiet that Ino can't pinpoint her footsteps or her breathing even if she tries, but somehow, she's acutely aware of the presence flanking her left side. It's hard to tell exactly what the giveaway is, but there's definitely _something…_ It's a weird feeling, one of those that's impossible to describe, like a type of sensory nostalgia.

 _She'll get caught if she's sloppy like that,_ Ino thinks worriedly. It would be very, very bad if Sakura got killed.

Well, it would be bad if any of them got killed, but…

"You might want to suppress your chakra more," Ino whispers, frowning. "I can still sense you."

"O-oh… sorry…"

When Ino pauses in front of the cave entrance this time, waiting, the guards give her another odd look. "What the hell have you been doing, Takeshi? Rolling in the dirt?"

Ino looks down at the mud slicked up to her knees. In her haste to get back to her team, she'd forgotten that the forest would leave its marks. She reaches into her pocket, smearing the mud on her fingers onto the contents inside. "Dropped my lighter," she explains, holding up the now dirt encrusted silver item.

The guards look at each other. Ino tenses in the silence, but then one of them shrugs, and then the other. "Six and ten."

"Seven."

Once again, they let her inside.

She breathes an inaudible sigh of relief as soon as she passes through the entrance. The hairs on the back of her neck stand on end until she's out of striking range of the guards. It's making her anxious that she can still feel Sakura beside her, but then, nobody else seems to be able to detect her. Whatever Ino's strange sixth sense is, these shinobi don't appear to have it.

Ino leads her to the back of the cave without incident. This time, she doesn't follow Sakura around the other side of the false wall. Using the bored excuse will only work once, and Takeshi's consciousness is strangely devoid of details. He's either an idiot or good at mental walls, and she's far, far too exhausted to try and break those down.

 _Why am I so damn tired_? She wonders irately. Her movements are sluggish, and if this guy didn't have such a weak mind, she would've lost control of his body long ago. It's not a comforting thought. At this rate, there's no way she'll be able to make clones to replace the hostages.

Ino twirls a cigarette between her fingers as she waits. Eventually, she hears one of the guards.

"Oy, Junichi," he pauses to yawn. "Wake up, you idiot…"

Another thirty seconds go by. The room grows silent. Quietly, Ino peeks around the wall and finds the guards passed out. She can feel Sakura inside, and she watches as the locks on the cage doors are undone as if by magic. The hostages observe this happen with wide, disbelieving eyes, but it won't be long before one of them attempts to make a run for it. Ino double checks to make sure that both rooms are devoid of conscious people before stepping into the holding area.

The hostages eye her wearily. She holds a finger to her lips. "My team is in the process of rescuing you," she whispers. "We'll cloak you and lead you out one or two at a time, but you'll be passing by your captors very closely at points, so you can't make a single noise. Not a peep. Not even a sigh. Is that clear?"

A round of nods. None of them speak, thankfully, and Ino approaches the guards, tapping them gently on the side of the head to ensure they're sleeping. Reassured that they won't wake up anytime soon, she heaves them over her shoulders one at a time and shoves them behind the boxes in the larger room. After another ten minutes or so of waiting for Sakura to finish planting the bombs, the hostages growing increasingly restless all the while, Ino senses her return.

She's more than worried at this point. The captives are obviously emotionally distraught, an inch from hysterical, and in the time it took for Sakura to line the entrance hall with explosives, she had to send a number of warning looks to some of them who'd been eyeing the open locks to their cages a little too eagerly. It's not like she can blame them, considering what she'd heard from the guards, but screwing up here would be a surefire way to get them all killed.

The first cage door opens and the prisoners inside tense, looking ready to bolt. One of them squeaks with surprise when Sakura grabs her by the wrist.

"Shh!" Ino snaps. "Remember, you have to be quiet. Any noises will get us all killed, do you understand?"

The second person Sakura grabs makes no noise. Good. She pulls them out of the cage and, after a moment, both of them disappear from view under the genjutsu.

It's incredibly slow going. There are five cages in total, and by the time the first two are empty, nearly an hour has passed. With the hostages in their weakened state and unskilled in masking their footsteps, leading them down the halls is an achingly lengthy process. Ino remembers the guard's words – _"It's not your turn yet" –_ which means it's only a matter of time before a shift change.

To make matters worse, just as she'd suspected, her chakra reserves are too low to make enough clones to replace the dwindling hostages. Ino curls her hands into fists and squeezes. Her fingertips are going numb. She won't be able to inhabit this body for much longer. She can't remember what happened before she got knocked out by Takeshi, but it must've been one doozy of a fight. Her mental energy is rapidly nearing zero. It feels as if she hasn't slept in over twenty-four hours, though that couldn't be true if they'd left on this mission three days ago. Shikamaru wouldn't let her go a night without rest before something like this.

Oddly, however, that's not what she's most worried about. The thing that's on the forefront of her mind is the fact that these hostages are terrible at sneaking, that at any point, they might give Sakura away and potentially get her killed. It's not like Sakura isn't capable – she did graduate, after all, and so far she's pulled off the escapes without a hitch – but Ino can vividly imagine it: a weakened captive stumbling on the uneven cave floor, the illusion breaking, Sakura fighting to keep the hostages alive before being overwhelmed by enemies, terrified in the fight but still trying, her body hitting the floor…

Ino pushes her fingertips into her temples. The stress of the situation must be getting to her. After all, she and Sakura have spoken a total of maybe three times at the academy and not once since they graduated, so there's no reason for her to feel so protective. It must be the girl's demeanor, Ino decides. That self-consciousness lends itself well to people like Ino, people who are leaders at heart, who see weakness in others as an opportunity to gain importance and garner admiration.

But that's a rather cold-hearted explanation. One that's often true, sure enough, but it's too indifferent to explain why Ino _cares_ so damn much.

 _Damnit. I'm giving myself a headache with this._

She digs her knuckles into her temples again, trying to soothe the pounding in her head, but to no avail. It's like something is pushing against the inside of her skull, needling her brain, trying to find a way out and tell her – remind her of – of _something_. Something she's supposed to remember. Something she already knows.

But she can't figure it out.

Each time she feels Sakura return, she breathes a small sigh of relief. When the fourth cage is at last opened, the headache finally beings to subside, reducing the mounting pressure in her head. And then, after what feels like forever, when the final prisoners are being led out and Ino prepares to follow them into the safety of the outside, it feels as if a weight on her shoulders has lifted.

For about five seconds.

Then she hears the voices.

"I don't see why Jiro wants us to do this shit. It's so damn boring."

"Somebody has to keep watch, you idiot."

"You're the idiot! Besides, how the hell could nearly thirty people just walk right by without someone noticing first? This shit is so stupid…"

 _Crap. Shit. Damn. Fuck._

Ino panics. It takes a second to reel herself in. Sakura has stopped at the edge of the false wall, afraid of colliding with the incoming guards taking their shift. She needs time.

"Hey," Ino calls out. She slides past Sakura and the hostages into the main room. "Quit your whining. I'm taking your shift anyway."

The two men stop abruptly. One of them, bottle in hand, stares her down for a moment, and then his face twists into a grimace. "Fuck you, Takeshi," he growls. "I'm not trading favors with you ever again. The last time you robbed me blind, you bastard."

"It's not trading favors. I just wanted the earlier shift, alright? So shut the fuck up."

His eyes never leave her face as he brings the bottle to his lips before passing it to the other man. It's cheap whiskey, judging by the label, but Ino is more interested in the weapons at his waist. A short sword and a dagger. Her heart heaves a heavy rhythm against her ribs in the ensuing silence. None of them speak for a long, tense moment. She can hear every drip of water from the cave ceiling, the distant, muted echo of laughter from the men in the other rooms of the hideout.

"What about the dogs?" He asks at last.

"What dogs?" The words are out of her mouth before she can stop them.

It's a code. One that she'd gotten wrong. The man reaches for his sword.

 _Shit, shit, shit –_

The blade hardly makes it out of the scabbard, however, before there's a kunai lodged in his throat. His partner stumbles back with a yelp, grabbing a knife from his belt and slashing outward blindly in his panic, the sharp edge making a wide arc in front of him.

Blood sprays on the cave floor. Sakura's blood.

Her illusion breaks briefly at the injury – a deep slash through her forearm from her attempt to keep the knife from striking the hostages. Sakura's jaw clenches minutely with the pain, but her expression remains inappropriately stoic for the size of the gash running from elbow to wrist. For all of two seconds, the hostages are exposed.

The start of a warning yell makes it out of the remaining guard's mouth before Sakura drives a kunai into his jugular.

Distant laughter quiets as the conversations in the cave stop abruptly and morph into alarmed shouting. Sakura reappears before Ino, her mouth set in a grim line. Her shyness appears to have vanished in the urgency of the situation. Now, she just looks determined. Tired.

Resigned.

"You should go."

"What?" Go? And leave her to die? Ino clenches her fingers into white-knuckled fists, the anger in her chest unexplainably huge. "Shikamaru said to fight, so that's what I'm going to do."

Footsteps echo in ever-nearer beats. She and Sakura have twenty seconds. Maybe. The hostages have taken their chances and made a run for it, and Sakura gives her a long, calculating look before leaping for her throat.

Ino hesitates. _She's not going to –_

But she is. Ino fumbles with the seals, and just as the tip of Sakura's kunai breaks the skin of her neck, Ino releases the jutsu.

Back outside the caves, in her own body with the rest of her team, Ino jerks upright and rises to her feet in an instant, forgetful of the mud and nearly slipping to her knees in the process. The rest of her team is up as well, having heard the commotion.

"Ino, what –"

"Sakura's still in there!"

Shikamaru winces. "And the last hostages?"

No sooner are the words out of his mouth, however, than they see the last two prisoners stumble out of the cave entrance, having slipped out in the enemy's panic. Hinata races down the hill to retrieve them, but the fear in Ino's heart is huge and hot, and she doesn't give a damn about that right now.

"What are we going to do?" The question fluctuates in a nearly hysterical pitch. Her eyes dart back and forth between Shikamaru's grave expression and the cave. The sounds of shouting and metal on metal emanate from inside. Sakura is fighting. She won't win.

She's going to die.

"Shikamaru!"

"We run," he says firmly. "We have the hostages now, and we won't win against that many enemies."

Ino's heart sinks to the floor. For a moment, her vision blurs. The world darkens at the edges. The rain reaches her ears in muted distortion, as if she's underwater, and it feels for a moment like she's going to pass out. Shikamaru is right, as usual. They have to run to save the hostages, to complete the mission – they have to leave Sakura behind.

There's a _bang_ in her mind like the salvo of heavy artillery, and Ino lifts a hand to her forehead, gasping at the pain.

No.

No, no, no. Something is wrong – _everything_ is wrong.

"I'm not going to let her die," she snaps, turning to sprint for the cave, but Shikamaru's hand on her shoulder stops her short.

"Don't be an idiot, Ino! She made a choice – she knows what's going to happen!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ino whirls on him, snarling, but Shikamaru looks just as pissed, for once.

"If she wanted to get out, she would've cloaked herself and done it. She's buying us time. We should honor that."

His voice is eerily calm. Reasonable. She knows he's right.

She doesn't care.

"Then leave!" She barks over her shoulder. Ino shrugs out of his grip and slides down the hill to the entrance of the cave, her muscles burning with the effort as she fights the exhaustion that seems heavy enough to sink her into the center of the earth. Every piece of her rapidly unwinding mind screams at her to _hurry the fuck up_.

Maybe she can't stop Sakura from dying, but she can at least keep her from dying alone.

Which means she's going to die too.

Ino skids to a halt in the empty mouth of the cave. Shikamaru shouts after her, trying to catch up, and her eyes drift to the dozens of explosive tags pasted to the roof. They need to be set off before the enemies attempt to leave and reclaim the hostages. _I'm going to die_ , she confirms, and she has only a few seconds before her team reaches her to drag her back with them, back to the village, back home – without Sakura, but alive.

Ino wonders where her regret is, in which direction her reason went flying off to, and then she forms the seals.

The tags ignite.

"Ino! Damnit!"

But she's already sprinting toward the back of the cave, out of range of the explosives, and she knows Shikamaru won't try and make it through. He'd only be damning the rest of their team to death. He would never risk that, even for her. She wouldn't want him to.

And yet, somehow, here she is, sacrificing her life for someone she hardly knows.

 _What the hell am I doing?_ She asks herself, astonished nearly to the point of laughter at her own stupidity. She can't find an answer, but somehow, she _knows_ that there is one. She has a reason, and it's a very good reason. If only she could remember it.

When she reaches the back of the cave, she finds Sakura pinned to the wall. Her face appears expressionless even as the rogue shinobi presses his forearm into her neck and screams obscenities at her, interrogating her about the prisoners, demanding to know how this could've happened.

Ino wraps two kunai with explosive tags and flings them into the center of the crowd.

The bodies fly. So does the debris. Any more explosives like that and the ceiling will cave in, so Ino grabs two kunai and a fistful of smoke bombs. She charges into the confusion with a war cry so feral that she even impresses herself with it.

She's faster than she remembers. Stronger. She doesn't know why, but somehow, her body seems to know all on its own, and she rips the blades of her kunai through the throats of two enemies, ducking a panicked, haphazard strike from someone's knife and slamming her own into the underside of his chin. When what's left of the crowd beings to regain their composure somewhat, she drops the smoke bombs and dives for Sakura.

There is nowhere to run, of course. She blew up the only exit, but there are still a few rooms to hide in, to maybe buy some time and come up with a plan, so she throws Sakura over her shoulder and shuts her eyes against the smoke, blindly heading in the direction of the hallway. Diving into one the larger rooms, she collapses behind a stack of boxes, heaving with exertion.

"Ino?" Sakura whispers hoarsely. There's a deep bruise over her throat. "What are you doing?"

"I have no idea," Ino pants, and the honesty of it makes her want to laugh.

Sakura doesn't seem to find it as funny. "You were supposed to leave."

Ino shakes her head tiredly. Her vision of the ceiling seems to lag behind the motion by a second or two. "You would've died."

"I'm _supposed_ to die. _You_ aren't."

 _Bullshit_. Ino's eyes snap open. She doesn't remember having closed them, or lying down, for that matter, and she braces her weight on her hands, the rocky cave floor biting into her palms as she sits up. She has to lean against the stack of boxes to support herself. Jabbing a finger into Sakura's chest, she growls under her breath, furious, "Why the hell would you say that? What do you mean you're _supposed_ to die?"

"It's true."

"Bullshit," Ino hisses, out loud this time. Sakura tucks her chin to her chest, her eyes on her trembling hands in her lap.

"You don't understand," she whispers. Her voice is barely audible against the increasingly closer shouts of their enemies. "You matter – people care about you, but I'm nothing. I don't mean anything to anybody, Ino. It doesn't matter if _I_ die."

The weariness constricting Ino's body like a second and third and fourth skin seems to double at her words. She struggles to stay upright, to decipher the expression on Sakura's face, but the girl won't look up at her. Her shoulders are hunched, her spine bent as if there's a great weight on her shoulders, and her bottom lip is pulled between her teeth anxiously, but Ino can't see her eyes through her bangs. Those damn bangs…

 _Didn't I cut those?_ She wonders. The thought emerges slowly as if rising through viscous waters to float to the surface of her consciousness. It sticks there for a second, almost as if she can see it inscribed on the backs of her eyelids – and when had she closed her eyes again?

Ino opens them. It takes a tremendous amount of effort. Sakura's chin is still lowered, and Ino lifts her arm, noticing with a worrying lack of concern that she can't feel the extremity, and clumsily brushes Sakura's bangs aside. Her eyes are wet with unshed tears. But Sakura doesn't cry, does she? Not once at the Academy – not since that day Ino saw her crying in the park. Ino's brow furrows as she tries to glue the thoughts together, to bind them into a shape that makes any sense. At least, she doesn't _want_ Sakura to cry…

"You mean something to _me_ ," Ino mutters, the words seeming to come back to her ears from a great distance. "It matters to _me_ if you die."

Sakura at last looks up at her, startled. When Ino's hand begins to slide down her face, too weak to maintain the touch, Sakura reaches for it, keeping it in place against her cheek, her own action only startling her even more. She places Ino's hand in her lap and studies her palm as if she might find an answer in the lines there. Sakura's voice barely carries over the cacophony of the men in the caves – or maybe there's something wrong with Ino's ears.

"But why?"

Ino tries to shrug. She can't. "I don't know," she admits, the words slurring. Her tongue feels gigantic in her mouth. "But I think we're in love or something. I can't remember…"

"What?"

Sakura stares at her oddly. She looks confused, like she's trying to remember something she'd known and forgotten a long, long time ago, just as Ino had been doing. The voices are getting closer and closer. Ino wonders how they haven't been found yet. It feels like an eternity since they hid behind these boxes, but the room is still empty as far as she can tell, and Sakura doesn't look concerned by the approaching company. Her eyes shimmer in the electric lights, her mouth set in a slight frown, and she drops Ino's hand to lift her own hand to her face.

"Don't I… don't I know you?"

 _Of course you do_ , Ino wants to say, _we went to school together_. But that's not what Sakura means, or at least, Ino doesn't think it is, and even if the question doesn't make sense, it somehow does anyway. Ino finds herself asking the very same thing.

"I feel like," Sakura pauses, trying to decipher the odd feeling, "like I'm…"

"Forgetting something," Ino finishes.

They stare at each other in silence. Ino's vision smears into indistinguishable color. She tries to keep herself awake and unravel this mystery, to understand why she's here – why is Sakura so important? Important enough to not only to die for, but to die _with_ , and who does Ino know like that, besides Shikamaru and Choji?

 _Haven't I… I think… but when…?_

Sakura appears to be feeling something similar, but Ino can't exactly tell because her _God damn, motherfucking bangs_ are just so damn long, always covering her face like that! _Forehead_ , Ino remembers suddenly, and though the thought carries no significance, it pushes words from her mouth like the start of an old, long-forgotten song.

"People will make fun of you, you know," she rasps. "If you hide behind your hair like that."

Sakura's lips part. Her body shudders as if Ino had just wrapped her with live wires. "What did you just say?"

Ino wants to repeat it, though she doesn't know why Sakura would ask her to do something so difficult, but then the box she's leaning on is kicked out from behind her. There's a man's voice saying something snarky, but she can't quite extract the meaning from the words. Ino can't really do anything at all.

She watches as the man lifts his sword above her. Her body screams at her to move, but she can't do that either, and then, suddenly, she can't even see him anymore. All she can see is Sakura as she rolls on top of her, trying to protect her – _isn't that backwards? I thought..._ Their foreheads are pressed together. Ino's field of vision fills with nothing but Sakura's eyes, sad and determined and so, so scared.

 _Don't cry_ , Ino wants to say, but the sword in her lung makes that hard.

The enemy-nin yanks it out of their bodies, and Ino feels it dislodge from her chest, but everything is so numb, it doesn't even hurt, not even when he drives it through them again, skewering them both. There's so much regret there, Ino thinks. Sakura is trying to apologize to her, but she really shouldn't. Ino made her choices, too.

 _It's not so bad_ , Ino decides, her eyes at last closing of their own accord, _to die like this._

#

 _Inowhatthehellwereyouthinkingyoucouldhavedied – Iwonderwhatshemeantwhenshe – butIalreadyknowI'mjustscared – isthiswhatdyingfeelslike – pleasedon'tleave – Idon'tknowwhatI'd – comeonwakeupwakeupwakeup –_

 _Hey…_

 _Aren't you forgetting something?_

…

#

Man, oh man.

Has anyone ever been so tired in their entire life?

Ino has had the worst week _ever_. Ever. Ever. Ever.

She can't remember why, but that's not important. It's been hell, she's sure of it, but at least now she's here, wherever that is.

That's not important either.

It's comfy. That's what matters. It's somebody's bedroom, a huge one with wooden floors and gigantic bay windows. Light beams through the glass and warms her in the king sized bed where she's buried under pristine, white sheets. It smells clean, not like dirt and blood, though she doesn't know why it would – but the point is that it smells clean. Like laundry soap and flowers. Soft feather pillows cushion her head. A huge comforter drapes over her body, shielding her from the draft. The air from outside smells like winter.

When she cracks an eye open, she can see the sun streaming in, refracting on tiny particles in the air to make beautiful ribbons of light. The combination of warmth and cold is unbelievably pleasant, like hot chocolate on a snowy day, and the blankets feel so smooth against her bare skin it makes her eyes water at the simple pleasure of it. She stretches like a cat, wincing slightly at the odd pain in her chest. Her hand traces over the spot, but she doesn't worry about it. Wherever she is doesn't feel like a place where a person would worry about anything at all.

She turns her head at the sound of the door opening. Sakura is there, wearing that cute white dress that Ino bought for her – who knows when, really.

"Hey," Sakura tilts her head to the side, looking adorably confused. "I thought you went to get food?"

Ino rolls over and snuggles into the blankets. Who would do that, she wonders, when there's this big, beautiful bed here, and she says as much, though half inaudibly with her face pressed into the mattress.

Sakura giggles at Ino's self-proclaimed laziness and kicks off her shoes, climbing into the bed with a book in hand. She sits up against the headboard, reading like she always does, and Ino thinks that she reads far too much, really. It doesn't feel like a day for reading; it feels like a day for rolling around in bed, so she flaps her hand to swat the book away and grabs Sakura's arm, pulling her down into the sheets with her.

"Hey," Sakura laughs. "What are you doing?"

"Yursuhrrrrm…"

"Hmm?"

Ino lifts her face from the pillow. "I said, you're so waaarrrmmm."

"I should hope so," Sakura giggles, allowing herself to be pulled down further until Ino's cuddled up securely into the warmth of her chest.

But Sakura's fingers are still inching towards that book.

"That's not very nice," Ino grumbles, rolling on top of her to grab her outstretched hand. "Don't tell me you like that book more than you like me?"

Their foreheads are pressed together, which feels familiar, somehow, but Ino isn't about to question it. Sakura's skin is hot and soft in all the places they're touching, their bodies flush, chest to chest, and it feels good enough to make her shiver. There's something very comforting about being so close, and Sakura's eyes are just so damn pretty.

 _Wait. Does she have prettier eyes than me?!_

Maybe…

It looks like she has softer lips, too, which just wouldn't be fair. Ino tests the theory. Hands slide around her waist, and Sakura sighs contentedly, but Ino can't quite tell if they're actually softer or not, so she tests the theory some more.

She tests it for a while.

She tests it, in fact, until Sakura's fingers dig into her back and she's squirming underneath her in a very pleasant way, making these rather lovely sounds, but that's to be expected, really. Ino's good at pretty much everything worth being good at, so it makes sense that she'd be just as good at this, too.

When Ino finally – _'s harder 'n I thought…_ – manages to squeeze her hand into the space between their hips, Sakura at last answers her question in a tone that sounds like – just – _good so good –_ and makes Ino feel like – _gah – just – what –_

"I don't like anything better than you," Sakura breathes, her lips by Ino's ear, brushing the sensitive skin there and making her shiver again.

"I am pretty awesome," Ino declares, getting another laugh out of Sakura.

"I know. That's why you're here."

Ino lifts her body up slightly, trying to collect her thoughts, but it's hard. Everything just feels so perfect that it would be stupid to ask questions, but something about this one feels important. "That's why I'm where?"

"Here. In the afterlife."

Ino blinks a few times, expressionless, and then flops down onto the mattress. "Damn," she sighs, her voice muffled by the pillow. "I guess that means we're both dead."

"…What?"

There's a note of panic in Sakura's voice. Ino flops a hand out, wiggling her fingers in what she hopes will pass as a dismissive wave. "Don't worry. I'm not that heartbroken about it. It's nicer here, anyway…"

"Ino."

"Hmm?"

"Did you… How long have you been here…?"

Trepidation strains Sakura's voice. Ino turns over on her side to face her. Sakura's expression is quite odd, like she's just discovered the secret ingredient to Choji's fabulous cupcake recipe – and found out it's dog urine.

"I don't know," Ino shrugs. "I woke up here a little while ago. Why?"

Sakura doesn't answer. She gets out of bed without a word and walks across the floor to stare out the window.

See, something about this doesn't make any sense.

Because Sakura is dead. She's in the afterlife now, and that's why it's so perfect. That's why it's always early winter, sweater weather – her favorite – and that's why the sun is always at an early morning angle, and everything is always clean, and her house is full of books, and Ino is here.

Ino is here because this is heaven.

Except, the Ino in this place had readily greeted her when Sakura arrived, because it wasn't _really_ Ino, it was an image of her that makes Sakura's version of heaven complete. She'd known that Sakura was dead and where they were. Sakura is also pretty darn sure that imaginary-heaven-Ino had gone out to get some sweets from across the street.

In fact, as Sakura peers out the window, she actually _sees_ Ino doing just that.

Sakura turns, blinking as if the woman in her bed might disperse like a cloud of smoke, but she's still there, watching Sakura curiously. Which means there are two Inos. Which means... which means that either she and Sakura are both dead and whatever commanding deity creates the afterlife made a hilarious mistake, or _neither_ of them are dead and they are, in fact, in the only other place where this world could exist.

Inside her head.

And if _that's_ the case, then the Ino outside is a figment of her imagination, and the one in her bed, the one she'd just been romping around with in the sheets is the _real_ Ino, not a figment of her imagination come to life, which means – which means –

"OHMYGOD." Sakura slaps her hands to her face. It feels like there's a twelve-foot fire under her skin.

Ino sits up a little more, slightly alarmed. She clutches the thin sheet to her chest to cover her body – her naked body, the naked body in Sakura's bed… "What's wrong?"

Sakura makes a noise that is basically indescribable.

Sort of like, "Guuaaggghhheeehhhhh…"

Ino snickers and flops back into the mattress. "You sound like someone just stepped on your stomach. Now come back to bed," she demands. "You're warm. I like that about you."

Sakura stiffly does as she's told because she honestly can't think to do anything else.

At least she's comforted by the fact that Ino doesn't seem to _mind_ that they're in this situation. In fact, she looks rather pleased when Sakura slips back under the covers, sharing her body heat, but her friend is obviously in some kind of stupor. Sakura isn't sure how Ino got here – in fact, Sakura isn't even entirely sure where "here" is – but it's obvious it'd not only completely exhausted her, but the entire process of it seems to have been erased from her memory.

Ino doesn't remember where she is, which is very dangerous indeed.

And when she _does_ remember, when she realizes that Sakura's imagined version of heaven involves not a small degree of romance and – ahem – _intimacy_ with her, then what?

Sakura sighs quietly. That's a risk she's going to have to take. Now that she knows she's not dead, she'll have to return to her corporeal body, and so will Ino, who must've gone through quite a bit of trouble to come looking for her this far inside her mind…

Sakura runs her fingers down the side of Ino's peaceful face, softly, reverently, so that she won't forget it, and when Ino leans into the touch, there's just the vaguest hope there, but…

Well.

It's not possible.

 _She's just confused_. _She doesn't even know where she is, but… I wish…_

It'd been so nice. Amazing. Perfect, to have her here, even knowing it hadn't been real. Sakura hadn't known happiness could feel that good or run that deep or be so _complete_ until she'd woken up here, fallen asleep in Ino's arms, kissed her, and now…

It'll be like a dream. She'll never have this again.

"Why are you crying?" Ino mumbles sleepily, wiping the tear from her cheek, and Sakura hopes that her photographic memory will do what it's supposed to do and simultaneously, fiercely wishes that it won't. Ino pulls her closer, kisses her, and it only makes her cry harder.

"I'm sorry for this, Ino," Sakura whispers. "But you have to go home now."

"I am home."

Sakura takes a deep, shuddering breath, holding tight to her resolve. "No, you're not."

"I don't understand," Ino frowns, pulling away slightly. "I'm sure I'm in the right place. I came all this way… I think I did, from… um…" She squeezes her eyes shut against the start of a headache. "I… can't remember."

"I know," Sakura says gently. "That's why you have to go back now."

"Go back _where_?"

"To your body."

Ino sighs crossly. She pushes her hand into her forehead because it _hurts_. "I can't – I'm sure I'm not supposed to do that, because I had to find you, and now I have. It was really important, even if I can't remember why, so I can't just leave…"

"What if I come with you?" Sakura offers.

Ino squints at her suspiciously. "You're not just trying to get rid of me, are you?"

"Never."

Sakura certainly _looks_ sincere, at least.

Honestly, Ino doesn't really know what the hell is going on anymore, but she does know that she's missing something – she can feel it writhing around in her brain, trying to remind her – and apparently Sakura knows what that is, and that it's important.

"So when I go back or whatever," Ino confirms, "you're going to be there too?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

"Always."

She looks so serious Ino wants to tell her to lighten up, but maybe it _is_ that serious.

Who knows, really?

Certainly not Ino.

So she lets Sakura take her hand, and she closes her eyes just as she's told, and then everything is cold and dark and empty, and in the void between this mind she's inhabiting and her own body, the little fragments of herself she'd left in the layers of Sakura's consciousness snap back into place like magnetized puzzle pieces as she's forcefully ejected from Sakura's head, and Ino _remembers –_

And then she wakes up. For real, this time.

* * *

#

 _Feedback? :)_

 _(Also, just for clarification: that mission extravaganza was indeed a suicide fantasy of Sakura's.)_


	24. Epilogue: Charming Gardeners

Epilogue

"Charming Gardeners"

...

Ino had evidently been unconscious for five days before she found Sakura, which had scared the ever-living hell out of the inner personality inhabiting Sakura's body. It hadn't helped when Ino mysteriously began hacking up blood. Thankfully, she'd already been in a hospital, or else it might've turned out much worse. She woke for only a few hours and then slept for a week more afterward, her mind, body, and chakra totally depleted, and when she at last returns fully to consciousness, she remembers everything.

Every. Little. Bit.

She's not sure if it's a good thing or not. Certainly, some of those memories are precious, but even back in the tangible world around her, Ino still isn't sure if they're really _real._ Do they count? Does it mean anything?

Apparently Sakura has been asking herself the same questions, though she doesn't say so explicitly. The first thing Sakura does when she finds Ino awake in the hospital is hug the ever living daylights out of her, all teary eyed and sniffling, and Ino hugs her back and waits for her to speak first because she doesn't know what to say yet.

There's a long, painfully awkward silence, and then Sakura fills it by catching her up on what she's missed.

In the downtime, Tsunade has nominated Ino for a promotion at Shikamaru's recommendation, albeit with a few caveats, which Ino plans to accept so long as Choji can join her.

"Probably," Sakura smiles. "Tsunade-shishou is actually quite empathetic, even if she doesn't seem like it."

"Shishou?"

Sakura explains her medical training – a lot of dodging trees and boulders and healing half-dead fish, not to mention a bunch of jargon that Ino doesn't fully understand, but Sakura looks so proud of her newfound knowledge that Ino doesn't dare interrupt her to tell her that.

The biggest news of all is that Sasuke and Naruto are gone.

"Together?" Ino asks suspiciously.

"Yes. They're with Jiraiya-sama – he agreed to train them both. They'll be gone for two or three years, I think," Sakura says a bit forlornly. "But I'm sure it'll be worth it. And they'll take care of one another."

"If they don't kill each other first."

Then, when all the latest developments have been explained, the silence stretches between them once again. Ino waits. Sakura stands halfway between the door and Ino's hospital bed, shuffling her feet and probably having a conversation with herself.

( _Just ask her already!_ )

 _You say it like it's easy..._

( _It's just a question, Sakura – besides, she's definitely not going to say no. Think of all the things that happened –_ )

 _There's no way she likes us that way, she was just confused – !_

( _Confused is like throwing your whites in with your colors, Sakura, not seducing someone away from her pretend – and very bland, by the way, like what the hell –fiancé._ )

 _You can't remind me of that right now! I'll get too embarrassed!_

And indeed, her face grows steadily redder by the second, but Ino simply waits good-naturedly, not commenting on her obvious inner turmoil.

( _Fine! Let me ask her, then. I probably should anyway, since_ _ **you**_ _got to have all the fun._ )

Sakura gladly switches with her. Ino observes the physical indications and raises an eyebrow at Sakura's other half, who clears her throat rather dramatically. Inner Sakura points a finger at Ino like she's about to challenge her to a duel. "Ino!"

"…Yeah?"

"You…! Uh, we should… um… what I'm trying to say is…" Her arm drops. The wide grin on her face falters. "Damn. This _is_ hard."

 _Told you!_

"Uh, hold that thought," Inner Sakura mutters.

( _You should probably be the one doing this._ )

 _What?! But – but you just said –_

( _Yeah, well, I was wrong, okay? This is terrifying._ )

 _So what makes you think I can do it?!_

( _Because! You're better at overcoming this kind of thing! Just do that thing you do where nothing matters!_ )

 _But it's Ino! Of course it matters!_

( _I totally believe in you, Sakura, you'll be completely fine, now just get out there and –_ )

 _H-hey, you can't just shove me like that –_

"Oh, c'mon!"

"But I can't –"

"Just do it!"

"Why don't _you_ do it?"

"Honestly we should probably both –"

"But what if she –"

"You realize she can hear us –"

"Well if you stopped shoving then maybe –"

"I'm just trying to help you be brave…"

"That's a terrible excuse for –"

Ino watches Sakura argue with herself, her body like a puppet with two people pulling at the strings in opposite directions, and is rather amused. Also bewildered. She has an inkling of what they're arguing about, but they're obviously not getting anywhere with it, and she's becoming increasingly worried that they're going to hurt themselves in the process.

"Hey, Sakura…s?"

They freeze in a rather humorous position, as if they'd been in the middle of a dance. Slowly, Inner Sakura – somehow still at the forefront – unwinds her body into something relatively more normal. "What's up?"

"Wasn't there something you wanted to ask me?"

"Nope – ow!" Sakura lifts a hand to her temple. "Who knew you could be so loud, jeez… um," she clears her throat again, stalling for time, but when it becomes abundantly clear that her other half isn't going to come save the day, she finally finishes the question. "Sakura was – er, I – um, _we_ , wanted to…"

Well, almost.

She makes a frustrated noise and slams her head into the doorframe repeatedly. The only logical solution, really. "Why. Is. This. So. Hard." Then she stops and turns back to Ino. "Listen, I want you to know that this is really scary, alright? So don't laugh at me."

"Okay," Ino agrees cheerily, thoroughly entertained by the spectacle of the normally outspoken girl's apprehension.

"Good! 'Cuz, uh, I – we were wondering if you'd – if you'd – uh – go – outside – no, wait…"

"Hmm?"

"You know, I've never had so much trouble saying words before…"

"Seems that way," Ino agrees mildly. It's getting harder not to laugh, but she _did_ promise.

"And, you know, I can tell you how I feel all day long, but somehow this is much harder…"

"Fear of rejection, I'd guess."

"Yeah… yeah, that must be it. It's really – hey! Wait a minute!" Sakura realizes abruptly, pointing at Ino's incriminating smile. "You totally know what we're trying to ask you!"

Ino turns so that she's facing Sakura directly. Her feet dangle off the edge of the hospital bed as she sits with her elbows on her knees, chin in her hand, and just so damn put together that Sakura is even more unsettled than before.

And Ino knows that, of course, but it's just so _fun._ "I assure you, I have no idea."

"You totally do!"

"Nope."

"How can you not know after a comment like that?!"

"Not know what?" Ino asks, feigning confusion.

"What we're asking for!"

"Which is?"

"A date! – oh. Oh," Sakura's eyes narrow. "You sneaky..."

Ino shrugs and flips her hair over her shoulder in the process. "You _obviously_ needed help. I mean, I really wonder what you keep behind that forehead of yours, because it's clearly nothing useful."

"Oh ho ho," Sakura mock laughs. "You say that like you don't know _exactly_ what's behind our forehead now."

"Th-that's Sakura's forehead," Ino says, recovering quickly from the remark. "I don't even want to know what kind of fantasies _you_ have."

Damn. As soon as it's out of her mouth, she knows she's lost the advantage, if Sakura's cocky smile didn't tip her off to it, first.

"That's not what _I_ hear."

Flustered, Ino quickly changes the subject. "Aren't you supposed to be convincing me to go out with you?"

"Convince you? Why wouldn't you want to? We're totally awesome!"

"Mhmm."

"And...! Uh… we're really into you?" Sakura tries, a little less sure now.

"A lot of people could say that."

"…You'll get two presents on our anniversary?"

Huh. She hadn't thought of that. "I'll think about it," Ino concedes, "and I'll let you know."

That's not the answer Sakura had been hoping for, but it's not the worst one possible, either. "…It's not a no?"

"It's not a no."

Sakura's shoulders slump a little. "Did I do something wrong? 'Cuz I thought… I mean…"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Ino reassures, voice dipping into a more serious tone. "There's just something I need to figure out first. But I promise it's not a no."

"Okay. I can live with that. We probably need to hammer out the details ourselves, anyway…"

Too true.

( _So, like, when we have sex, which one of us –_ )

 _Too soon._

( _But –_ )

 _No!_

( _Ugh._ )

…

…

(… _Hey, will you share that one again, after the arcade when she did that thing with her –_ )

 _ **Sakura**_ _!_

( _What?! You're the one that did it…!_ )

#

Poor Shikamaru. He's lying on his back, peacefully observing the sky from the roof of the hospital and watching the clouds float along at their strolling pace. It's so beautiful up here, so calm, so _simple_ and _easy_ , not at all like the hands on his shoulders that yank him into an upright position and half pull, half carry him down the stairs. No, he thinks as he drags his feet through the dirt, now on the ground and so much farther from his precious clouds, he knows that life is not like that at all. Nobody in this world has such a drifting, thoughtless existence, because there are always people.

People like Ino.

People who complicate things when they shouldn't.

Then again, maybe he shouldn't have picked the hospital roof to lie on top of, since he knew she was getting released today, but it's one of the tallest buildings in Konoha, so the risk had been worth it – until it hadn't, anyway.

She doesn't say a word as they reach her house and enter her room. The routine begins. He flops on the bed, back to his much beloved cloud gazing. She turns on the shower but remains silent. That's how he knows it's serious. Unfortunately, that also means he'll have to do a lot of work now… So troublesome, these women…

"Something wrong?" He calls out.

No answer. There's no shampoo sounds, no fluctuations of water. She's just standing there, thinking. Then, a sigh. "Sakura asked me to go on a date with her."

"So she actually managed to do that, huh…?"

"She's braver than you give her credit for, you know."

"It's not a matter of being brave," Shikamaru corrects, hating how many words are in this sentence. "It's a matter of her feeling like she's 'worthy' enough to date you. I'm just surprised that she's willing to risk altering your friendship, and that she feels good enough about herself to ask in the first place."

At last, the shampooing begins. That's a good sign. It means Ino's not staring catatonically at the wall anymore. "I don't think she does, really, it was the other Sakura that actually did the asking, and I'm pretty sure that's only because…"

A few seconds pass. Shikamaru rolls into the spotted sunlight on her bed and sighs. "Hmm?"

"Well, I may have…"

"…Yes?"

"Done… something to encourage it."

"Something?" He repeats.

She'd partially filled him in on what happened while she'd been unconscious, but he hadn't missed the way she glossed over certain parts. Ino had been carefully ambiguous about some of the events, and though Shikamaru can fill in a few things his friend had done just by knowing her personality, there were others he couldn't safely assume. Until now.

"Just – just _something_."

"That's not helpful."

"Yeah, well," she scoffs, "a lady doesn't talk about those things."

Oh. That explains it. "Apparently they do by omission."

"Shut it," she warns. There's a loud thunk as the shower is shut off. "I'm not going to share details with you."

Mildly offended, he grumbles, "I didn't ask you to… And anyway, if you did something to encourage her, doesn't that mean you like her the same way?"

"It's not a matter of liking. It's a matter of dating."

"What's the difference, in this case?"

Again, she doesn't answer. He turns away from the bathroom to face the wall as Ino exits to dress. She still hasn't spoken by the time she's thrown on a long t-shirt and hit fifteen out of a hundred hairbrush strokes. She's too busy staring at her reflection in the mirror, thinking.

First of all, she really needs a facial. All the dry air in the hospital had been terrible on her skin.

Secondly, she thinks about Shikamaru's question. She's sure he knows the answer already, at least in a general sense, because not every pair of people who like each other go out, just like two people in love can have a horrendous relationship. Affection isn't always enough to cement those bonds into a functional structure. It's not always that simple.

And in this case, it's downright complicated.

"There are three people involved, first off," Ino says at last. "You can't tell me you don't see all the ways that could go terribly wrong."

"That's true, but you like them both, right?"

"Well, yeah, but… but, that means I'll have to buy two gifts on their birthday."

"And you'll get two on yours," Shikamaru points out reasonably. Annoyingly reasonably. "When do you ever complain about presents, anyway? You love giving people things."

Damn. Ino's lost count of the hairbrush strokes. She starts over. "But what if one of them gets jealous or something?"

"It's not like Sakura hasn't lived with herself this whole time. They're obviously capable of working out their own issues."

"But what if one of them wants to break up with me and the other one doesn't? How will that work?"

Disgruntled, Shikamaru at last lifts his head from the bed to look at her, but she avoids his eyes in the mirror. "Ino."

She pretends not to notice that he's trying to get her to face him. _Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven…_

"Ino."

 _Twenty-eight, twenty-nine…_

"Oy, Ino!"

"What?! You're making me lose count again!"

When he doesn't answer, doesn't even make his usual 'I find this annoying' noises, she finally faces his reflection in the mirror. He looks serious. He's making that face he makes when he's actually going to invest the proper amount of emotional energy in something, and defeated, Ino turns around.

"All these things you're worried about, with the gifts, and the jealousy, and breaking up – that's all normal relationship stuff. Everyone worries about those things, regardless of whether they're dating one person or two, so that hardly matters. I don't know why you're making excuses," he deadpans. She looks like she's about to yell at him, and he continues quickly, "Besides, do you honestly think that Sakura would ever, _ever_ break up with you? She'd sooner cut off her own arm."

"I know that!" Ino shouts, chucking the hairbrush at him because she really does hate it when he's right. Which is to say, ninety-nine percent of the time. "That's the problem!"

He skillfully turns his head to avoid getting nailed by the brush. Thankfully, she hadn't actually intended to hit him with it, or it wouldn't have been that easy… "The problem is that she worships you? I'm pretty sure that's something you'd like…"

Ino glares despite his rather solid point, but her hostility fades quickly. She stands, pacing the room and making a lot of emphatic hand gestures as she speaks, "I _do_ like it, and I'm not still wondering if I deserve it or anything, because I _am_ basically the best –" Ah. Shikamaru wonders if perhaps he'd shot himself in the foot by helping her regain her self-esteem the last time they'd talked… "But, we're _teenagers_ , Shikamaru, and I know you're right – Sakura would never break up with me, _ever_ , and forever is a long, long time, and I've only ever dated like three people and that was just one date a piece because they _sucked_ , and she's never even looked at anyone else this way, but she's already devoted herself to me in every sense possible, and there's no telling what could happen a week from now, or a year, or –"

"You're scared of breaking her heart," Shikamaru interrupts.

Ino deflates instantly. She flops on the bed next to him, hugging her pillow to her chest. " _Two_ hearts. Two incredibly fragile ones that think my approval is the most meaningful thing in the world. If something happens, I don't know if they'd ever recover…"

"Weren't you just saying that _I_ don't give Sakura enough credit?"

She jabs him in the shoulder with her finger. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shikamaru shrugs away from her prodding. "Sakura's not a lightweight when it comes to emotional pain, and when it comes down to it, she'd do anything for you. Including bear that pain," he grumbles, and then, with what looks like a tremendous amount of effort, he hauls himself up and off the bed. Ino has evidently hit the end of Shikamaru's patience for participating in her emotional distress, and she knows these are the last wise words she'll get out of him.

Which is okay, really, because the vast majority of their serious conversations are spent whittling him down just to get him to this point.

"If she loves you like I think she does, then she values your happiness above all else, whether or not she's the one that's causing it," he continues, stretching and heading for the door. "All your fears of the future are just as normal as your other ones, Ino. Everyone worries about breaking up or where things will lead. Even if it's a little more serious for you, if people let stuff like that stop them, nobody would ever date anybody else. It's a risk we take because we feel the rewards are worth it, no matter how it ends up, so you just have to figure out if it's worth it for _you._ "

Ah, Shikamaru. So wise. So helpful... So lazy that he can't even be bothered to close the door behind him. Her parents aren't home anyway, so Ino leaves it ajar, preferring to roll fitfully around her bed in the throes of indecision.

It's not like she doesn't believe Sakura is capable of handling things. She hasn't forgotten the pit of despair inside the other girl's mind, the one that nearly drove Ino mad in the short but painfully long time she'd spent there. Her very existence had hurt her in that realm. Sakura lived that way for a long time.

But then Ino remembers the way she'd snapped at Sakura when they chased Sasuke the first time, the look on Sakura's face that made it seem like the world had cracked open and she wished for nothing but a quick death. Just from a single remark. If something were to happen, if it didn't work out between them, which one of those two events would foreshadow her reaction?

Ino doesn't know. It's driving her nuts.

She doesn't _want_ to break Sakura's heart, and she hopes she won't, but sometimes lives are long and unpredictable. Sometimes they're short and unpredictable. There's no telling what might happen.

But there's no telling what might happen any which way she looks at it. Ino could go on a mission tomorrow and die in the field, simple as that, or she could live to be seventy-five, old and gray and wrinkled.

 _I should ask Tsunade how she holds up her henge sometime…_

Ino sighs and tosses the blankets off her where they've knotted around her body. She moves to the window and stares at the clouds, taking a page from Shikamaru's book. Maybe it'll help her think. What would he say, if he hadn't left to go lay in the grass somewhere…?

Perhaps she's asking the wrong questions. The uncertainties buzzing around her brain have no answers. She could never really know the future; all she has is evidence the present gives her, and that evidence points clearly in one direction: Sakura loves her in a way that surpasses something as one-dimensional as a romantic relationship. If Ino were unhappy, then Sakura would do whatever it took to fix that. Even if it meant letting her go.

And Ino…

 _Are my feelings that strong? How can you really know something like that…?_

No, no. She shakes her head and sighs, pressing her forehead into the cool glass of the window. Even if it hadn't been real, she'd _thought_ it'd been real, and that's real enough. Ino already died for her, and not even to save her life. Just so she could die at Sakura's side – so Sakura wouldn't think she'd leave this world alone.

That's not something you do for someone you _don't_ love.

Everything leads her to believe that, at least for now, they'd be happy together. And the future is uncertain. The future is always uncertain. There are always risks; relationships are a gamble, a bet you make against yourself. With three people involved, the stakes are higher. Triple the risk, triple the reward…

So, is it worth it?

Ino doesn't know. She tells Sakura yes anyway.

And, the next evening, when Sakura shows up at her door with the most inelegant bouquet Ino has ever seen – a huge, fist-sized red rose; tangled vines of sweet pea; a wooden stem capped with a pristine, white gardenia; a deep blue cluster of hydrangeas; velvety lamb's ear; and a bright yellow chrysanthemum in the center – Ino knows she's made the right choice.

She doesn't worry anymore.

* * *

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 _ **A/N** : That's it, folks! For those of you that might not remember, the bouquet is comprised of the same (meaningful!) flowers that Sakura originally chose from their first flower-arranging lesson._

 _For those of you InoSaku fans that struggle to find good fanfiction, I feel your pain! I'll do my best to keep writing for this pairing. In the meantime, I'd recommend checking out "At dawn" by youte. It's a fun superpower/hero AU that stars InoSaku as its main pairing. It's long, entertaining, and totally worth the read. Kay Ross also writes some squeal-worthy, shorter InoSaku fics for a quick fix._

 _Lastly, thank you to everyone for coming with me on this journey! Your reviews, follows, favorites, and the time you took to read this story are invaluable to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :)_

 _-Xinthos_


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